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- 1 - © Women’s Global Connection 2007

Early Care and Child Development Preschool Teacher Training Institute

Manual

Continuous Professional Development

Edited by: Lisa Uribe-Kozlovsky, Ph.D. Coordinator, Children Under 7 Project

Published by: Women’s Global Connection Executive Director: Dorothy Ettling, CCVI, Ph.D. Assocate Director: Paula Caffer, Ph.D.


Early Care and Child Development Preschool Teacher Training Institute

Framework for Continuous Professional Development Early childhood educators implement research findings by making the lessons presented to the young child in their classroom authentic and meaningful. An authentic activity is one in which a child is able to relate by using real objects as they improve their oral language and learn new skills. It is important that teachers prepare their lessons while considering the age, individual and cultural appropriateness of each activity and materials used in their activity. When a teacher acknowledges the individual strengths and differences of the children in their classroom they create a welcoming environment for their students, which is conducive to learning. The activities in this manual are created around the frameworks of developmental appropriateness, age, individual and cultural (Copple & Bredekamp, 2006) Teachers are encouraged to use small groups to facilitate learning as well as tangible everyday objects, so that each development area is given appropriate time and attention. Developmentally appropriate in terms of age is to recognize each child’s stage of development according to their age. Individually appropriate is to recognize the individuality of each child and the rate at which they are developing. Cultural appropriateness recognizes the child’s community, traditions, and language. The activities of this manual were also created considering the limited resources of each location. Participants were asked to consider how to create learning tools from materials available locally. Local preschool teachers have a significant role in the creation of this manual. Activities and learning tools created were demonstrated and revised according to the suggestions of the teachers and the WGC mentors of the Children Under Seven project.


ECCD Training Institute 3 weeklong sessions Early Care and Development Training + 1 week Grief and Loss Training

ECCD Goals The goals establish a framework by which teachers plan and carry out activities in the classroom. The areas of comprehension describe the topics taught to teachers and caregivers to carry out the goals. Goal I. To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment Areas of comprehension 1. Health and Safety 2. Learning environment Goal II. To advance physical and intellectual competence Areas of comprehension 3. Physical development 4. Cognitive development Goal III. To support social and emotional development and to provide positive guidance Areas of comprehension 5. Self 6. Psychosocial 7. Guidance Goal IV. To establish positive and productive relationships with families Areas of comprehension 8. Families and Community Goal V. To ensure a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant needs Area of comprehension 9. ECCD Program management Goal VI. To maintain a commitment to professionalism Area of comprehension 10. Professionalism


Goal Comprehension Area

Example of Session Topic Resources

Goal I. To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment

1. Health and Safety 2. Learning environment

Child Growth and Development Setting up a classroom and making it child-centered

Results of UNICEF study

Goal II. To advance physical and intellectual competence

3. Physical development 4. Cognitive development

Fine and gross motor and activities to develop Stages of cognitive development and activities to encourage problem solving

Goal III. To support social and emotional development and to provide positive guidance

5. Self 6. Psychosocial 7. Guidance

Developing self and Emotional development Guidance techniques for classroom to encourage input from children and maintain a conducive learning environment Includes Grief and Loss Session

Goal IV. To establish positive and productive relationships with families

8. Families and Community

Home school connection; communicating with head of family Family involvement on ECE programs

Goal V. To ensure a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant needs

9. ECCD Program management

Recordkeeping for students and staff Recording children’s progress

Goal VI. To maintain a commitment to professionalism

10. Professionalism

Code of Ethics ECE Research Professional Portfolios


Introduction This training manual was created by the efforts of dedicated volunteers and staff. Each week was prepared and executed by the training teams presenting each session. Revisions were completed after each team returned from their week in Mongu, Zambia and included input from the preschool teachers of the Teacher Training Institute (TTI). We are grateful to all of the volunteers and the teachers of the Western Province in Zambia for the lessons learned and collaboration. Each session is created based on the following format to provide consistency. There are variations based on the topics and activities presented.

Early Care and Development Training Institute Module Training Session Format

Title of Session Content Areas National Curriculum Time line of lesson Materials needed for Session Focus activity This activity is a simple prompt that focuses the participant’s attention before the actual lessons begin. It can be a story, handout, a question on the board, or a curiosity item. Objective Answer- What is the purpose of the session and what will the participants be able “do” with the information from today’s session. Also, how will they show learning as a result made clear by the trainer, includes relative section of national curriculum. Talking points Concepts the trainer will impart to the participants through a short discussion or demonstration. Guided practice (training of teachers) The trainer leads the participants through the steps necessary to perform the skill, (teaching the concept), using the hear/see/do approach. Checking for understanding The trainer uses a variety of questioning strategies to determine if the participants have understanding and moves forward or backs up. Include section for both circumstances. Independent Practice: developing activities for children and application to home Trainer releases the participants to practice on their own input and understanding, i.e. create their own activity to contribute to a “bank” of activities for Zambian children. Participants are given opportunities to teach/present their activity to others. Home to School Participants will provide input to create a connection regarding the skills taught to children and their home environment Closure Review and wrap-up the lesson Evaluation


Early Care and Child Development Training Institute

Week One

Ana DeHoyos-O’Connor, M.Ed. Lisa Uribe-Kozlovsky, Ph.D.


Week One Introduction In 2005, Catholic Relief services sponsored a conference which brought together stakeholders which provided children’s service in Zambia. At the end of the week, Women’s Global Connection (WGC) made a commitment to address the gap in teacher training by providing training through Continuous Professional Development to preschool teachers. Ana DeHoyos-O’Connor and Lisa Uribe-Kozlovsky met weekly for three months in 2006. Together they decided on the curriculum by which to teach methods and strategies to preschool teachers with a variety of experience and education levels. They then prepared the first of four weeklong workshops. Their workshop includes the following sessions: Session One Building Community – The Role of the Teacher. Session Two The Developing Child Session Three The Learning Environment Session Four The Learning Environment (continued) Session Five Building Language Skills with Young Children Session Six Language and our Stories


Week One- Session One Title of Session: Building Community - Role of the Teacher Content Area: Professional Development, Assessing learning and needs National Curriculum: N/A Time line of lesson 1 hour 30 minutes Materials needed for session: Manila paper Markers

K-W-L grid on flip chart Large drawing paper for topic web

Objective: Participants will be able to list characteristics of a teacher as a professional Focus activities: As participants enter, they make their nameplate and place them in front of their seats. Trainers place their nameplates on the front table as an example. Trainers ask for someone to lead the morning dedication. Interview partner and share with the whole group.

Introduce your partner • Name • Years teaching • Age level of students in their classroom • A reflection on teaching

Talking points Define – Professionalism

• The utilization of specialized knowledge that its members need to accomplish specific outcomes.

• It involves a shared set of skills that are used to improve the quality of professional teaching practices and interactions between early childhood educators and the children and families that they work with in their respective programs.

• Professionalism is not an end in itself—a state of being—but an ongoing effort—a process of becoming.

• New knowledge of children's development needs to be incorporated into professional caregivers' existing repertoire. (Caulfield, 1997)


Guided practice Begin by introducing thumbs up and thumbs down. “Please let us know when you need clarification by giving a thumbs-down. When we ask if you understand instructions given give us the thumbs-up if you understand.” Using the K-W-L grid on the flip chart explain how it is a teaching tool What do we Know about _________? What do we Want to know about _________? What did we Learn about _______? Use a single page for What do we know about teaching? Ask participants to list characteristics of teaching. What do we as teachers know when we walk into our classrooms? Participants list and trainer writes on sheet and posts on wall Second page is for What do we want to know about teaching? Participants list things they would like to learn from the institute, such as child development, lesson planning, activities that encourage learning, and how tomotivate students. Trainers talk about how each of us have skills that we can share with each other. Individually, participants will use their K-W-L handout and design a list of their own positive skills they bring (what they know) and also what they need help with (want to know). During this process the trainer can also develop a list of possible resources within the community. Return to small groups and share with fellow participants. Guided practice: The trainer uses a variety of questioning strategies to determine if the participants have understanding and moves forward or backs up, accordingly. Include sections for both circumstances. Modeling: The trainer will model with their own teaching stories and also with characteristics they bring into the classroom. Also, discuss how they work with parents and the community. Independent Practice: Discuss and develop a process in which how to use a K-W-L chart with their classroom children. In small groups, participants receive a topic appropriate for the EC classroom, farm, town, etc. The topics are taken from the National Curriculum. Instructions include a map math activity (something to count), a language activity (a song or story). Trainers facilitate among the groups, giving individual assistance and clarification Participants present their web and discuss how K-W-L can be used in the classroom with this topic. Closure: The trainer reviews and wraps-up the lesson. Name what you are doing here for participants. This is “professional development.” Evaluation: Teachers’ self-assessment of skills and topic web.


Handout Packet: K-W-L handout

K-W-L

What do I KNOW?

What do I

WANT to know?

What have I LEARNED?


Week One- Session Two

Title of Session: The Developing Child Content Areas: Child Growth and Brain Development National Provisions 1.1 To provide environment and opportunities that can aid the development of communication

skills. 1.2 To develop mental ability through creativity and discoveries. 1.3 To assist the child’s physical development. 1.1 To promote the child’s social attitude. Domains: Cognitive development Psychosocial development Length of lesson: 1 hour 30 minutes Materials needed for session: Manila paper and markers Objective: Participants will be able to identify the four key areas of development in children, with focus on language and cognitive development. Focus activity: Trainer will facilitate a group brainstorming.

What do we know about children? Listing the four

developmental areas of a child, physical, language, psychosocial and cognitive, typical milestones of a preschool child will be highlighted. Participants will contribute with responses to the areas as the trainer lists all items on flip chart. Talking points Though each child is unique, there are certain 'typical' stages in the growth and development process. Understanding the various age and stage milestones makes it easier for a parent to appreciate and monitor the growth of the child. There are various developmental milestones that a child goes through each year.

• Gross motor skills that involve large muscle groups take shape during different months of the first two years. These involve sitting, standing, walking and running.

• Fine motor skills allow a child to use his hands to eat, play and write. These skills are developed over a longer time span.


• It is never too early to build social skills in a child. As a child grows, he learns to interact with others. He learns to form relationships with people beyond his immediate family.

Guided practice: Trainer will facilitate a group brainstorming. What do we know about children in given age level (i.e. 3 years old)? Then child behaviors will be categorized into domains. Trainers ask participants to stand and cross their hands and arms and fold them in, then try to move individual fingers. Instructors explain how this relates to brain function. Participants review information regarding brain research and how the brain reacts when stimulated with learning. This makes EC teachers “brain developers.” Independent Practice: Participants break into small groups. Each group is to draw a specific age child and label the domain of development milestone tasks related to language, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional and cognitive. List child behaviors from group discussion under each domain of drawn child and discusses classroom behaviors per age group. After 10-15 minutes, trainer provides growth and development chart as a resource (see handout section). Trainer uses the group’s drawings to process with the whole group; highlighting each of the domains and including milestones not listed but also important to know. Closure: As review for the day, return to the “W” page of K-W-L. What learning has been accomplished and how does it benefit our role as teachers to learn this process? (Post-its are used to check off actual items from the page.) Evaluation: The drawing of the child will show participants’ understanding of child growth and brain development by age levels. The participants review growth and development and cognitive development. Their drawings of the child and the topic web are evaluations of understanding the concepts of the day. The trainer ends the session by linking development with activity and real topics to which children can relate. Return to webs to point out the examples that meet the developmental needs of children. Home to School: Children take home a paper and pencil to draw themselves. With a family member, they list the things they do at home; how they play, how they help around the home, what they sing, etc. Handout: Growth and development chart- Ages 3 to 6 years (www.calgaryandareacfsa.gov.ab.ca/crv/pdf/Developmental_Stages_Children-Youth.pdf, November 4, 2007) Page 5


Brain Development Quiz - True or False Basic brain connections are laid down before birth. True • During pregnancy, the basic architecture of the brain is formed. The different parts of

the brain are in place (e.g., brain stem, thalamus, cerebellum). This initial development also provides basic brain functions that help the baby live.

• Although this "hardware" is laid out during pregnancy, the brain is still immature in that the "software," or the connections between different parts of the brain, are not yet formed.

• To a certain extent, formation of the connections depend on exposure to our environment--through relationships and experiences.

• Unlike the other organs of the newborn, such as the heart which is already functioning as it will throughout the child's life, the brain is not yet ready to perform all the amazing functions it will eventually be able to do. It goes through a series of developmental stages. It is following birth that experience begins to have a greater effect on brain development than it did during pregnancy (although, certain experiences do influence the developing brain during pregnancy, such as maternal health and stress, intake of drugs and/or alcohol, and quality of maternal nutrition).

Babies are born with the ability to learn all the languages in the world. True • The infant brain is "wired" to seek out and learn language. • Amazingly, infants are born with the capacity not just to learn language, but to learn all

languages. As researcher Patricia Kuhl from the University of Washington puts it, infants are "citizens of the world." They are able to perceive the different sounds and patterns of speech of all languages in the world. For example, at birth, Japanese babies can hear the distinction between "r" and "l", although only the "r" sound exists in Japanese. They can still hear the distinction at 6 months of age, but cannot by 12 months of age.

• Even in the womb, the infant is turning towards the melody of its mother's voice. The brain is setting up the circuitry needed to understand and reproduce language.

• Babies learn to talk by hearing language and having language directed at them in "conversation."

• Between 6-12 months, babies begin to fine-tune their ability to perceive the speech sounds of their native language as opposed to non-native language.

A human baby's brain has the greatest density of brain cells connectors (synapses) by age 3. True • Researchers who have studied the brains of both monkeys and humans have shown that

there is a pattern of rapid synapse formation during early development. • However, this density does not remain throughout life. After these connections are

formed, there is a "plateau period" and then a period of pruning, or elimination, where the densities decrease and resemble adult levels.

• In humans, this period of elimination begins around early adolescence and continues until at least age 16.

• Different parts of the brain undergo synapse formation, plateau, and elimination at different points in development, depending upon when they mature.

Because the brain is making so many connections pre-birth to age 3, the first three years of life are the most critical for brain development. After age 3, the "window of opportunity" closes.


False • You are learning right now! Although brain connector density is at its highest level in the

first three years of life, that doesn't mean that the brain has its greatest brain power at that time. A great deal of learning goes on after the first three years of life.

• However, the first three years are important for laying the groundwork for healthy psychological development. We know that from psychological research, particularly research on parent-child attachment, but not from brain development research. What we know from brain development research right now is that for very specific aspects of brain development, such as the visual system, that critical periods exist and thus a window of opportunity.

• The brain continues to grow and mature well into adolescence; thus, it is virtually impossible to make the general claim that the window of opportunity closes by age three. (Nelson, 2000a)

• The brain is adaptable and flexible, although the ability to adapt changes with age and situation. In reality, there are many windows of opportunity throughout development. Knowing that the brain is more flexible than previously thought doesn't mean that it's easy to change the brain. It's an incredibly difficult challenge. Much more research is needed before we can make claims or suggestions about how to do that.

Good nutrition is one of the best ways we know to aid in healthy brain development. True • It is important that families provide an environment that supports health in both lifestyle

and nutrition. • Good nutrition is important for both the pregnant mother and the infant. Pregnant

mothers need appropriate amounts of folic acid and iron, and should avoid nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drugs throughout their entire pregnancy.

• The developing brain craves iron. Babies need an appropriate amount of iron either via breast milk or formula in the first six months of life, and via iron-fortified infant cereals and iron supplementation after that, whether or not their mothers are iron-deficient. Iron deficiency has been clearly linked to cognitive deficits in young children. Iron is critical for maintaining an adequate number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, which in turn are necessary to fuel brain growth. Bottle-fed babies should receive formula that contains iron.

• Breast milk contains all the amino and fatty acids needed for brain development. Some research has shown that babies who are breast-fed as compared to babies who are formula-fed have scores that are significantly higher on IQ tests.

• Children who are malnourished--not just fussy eaters but truly deprived of adequate calories and protein in their diet--between mid-gestation and two years of age do not adequately grow, either physically or mentally. Their brains are smaller than normal and they suffer often lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, including slower language and fine motor development, lower IQ, and poorer school performance.

Reading to a newborn infant is the best way to help a child learn to read in the future. False • It is important to recognize that what is most important is providing a language-rich

environment for children. Reading is one way, but there are many other ways as well, such as talking, singing, listening to music.


• There are a number of studies that show that when children hear a good deal of "live" language, when they are spoken to often and encouraged to communicate, they are more proficient with language than children who have more limited language exposure. For example, Janellan Huttenlocher, University of Chicago, found that at 20 months of age children of "chatty" moms averaged 131 more words than kids of "non-chatty" moms and by age two the gap had increased to a difference of 295 words. Only live language, not television, produced these vocabulary-boosting effects (Begley, 1997).

• Risley & Hart, in their 1995 book Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Lives of American Children, compared the early language environments of children from 7-9 months until 3 years, and then correlated language exposure to achievement test scores in 3rd grade. Children who heard the greatest amount of language when they were young had the highest achievement test scores, while children who heard the least amount of language had the lowest achievement test scores.

Living in an orphanage as a baby will likely result in negative, long-lasting effects on the brain. False • Non-responsive, inconsistent care can set children up for cognitive, social, emotional and

physical problems. • This is a complicated issue; intervention can make a difference. • Studies of children reared in orphanages in the first few years of life suggest that

children's developmental outcomes are better when children are adopted by the time they are 6 months of age (Nelson, 2000c).

• However, there are numerous instances of children who were adopted after the first year of life who experience catch-up growth and developmental improvements.

• Scientists believe that harmful behaviors or neglect in early life can affect the brain, leading to lifelong problems. A healthy and caring environment, however, can create opportunities for the child to develop to his or her full potential.

• High quality caregiving experiences, particularly for young children who experience abuse or neglect, can support the healthy development of the stress system.

There are times when a negative experience or the absence of appropriate stimulation is more likely to have serious and sustained effects on the child. True • Early exposure to nicotine, alcohol and/or drugs can have devastating effects on the

developing brain, particularly during the time during pregnancy when the brain is being formed.

• Critical periods in brain development do exist, although we have a long way to go to understand them. We know that the absence of a reasonable amount of light in the first weeks after birth alters the development of the visual system, and that the complete absence of hearing language or receipt of extremely poor care (such as in an orphanage) will likely result in developmental deficits, but we still have much to learn about the persistence of these effects and the ability of the brain to overcome them.

• In general, although some critical periods do exist, the concept of sensitive periods better explains early development. Sensitive periods are times in development when certain kinds of experiences are essential for healthy development, when the absence of some kind of stimulus results in development going awry, or off-course. Compared to critical periods, sensitive periods are generally longer and suggest that there is more flexibility in the timing of input or experience to the brain and the brain's ability to learn and develop over time.


The large majority of what we've learned about the brain comes from research conducted on animals rather than on humans. True • The bulk of cognitive neuroscience research has been conducted on animals, such as

rats and monkeys. These animal models provide us with hypotheses about how things might work in the human brain, but they are not perfect analogs. So, what we learn about animals may be meaningful but still needs to be documented in humans.

• This also means that we need to be careful about the extent to which the claims about brain research can legitimately made about human brain development.

• Currently, a great deal of knowledge is being generated about both animal and human brain function. The core, basic knowledge on how brains develop and function is being compiled. However, as the picture is not yet complete, it is difficult at this time to use current research to inform prevention or intervention in relation to problems in the brain.

Brain research has been misunderstood and misapplied in many contexts. True • Many are concerned about the potential misuse of the brain research to marginalize

oppressed populations, particularly children of color or children living in poverty. For example, the size of the brain and how the brain works has been used to rationalize oppression in the past.

• Recommendations for certain kinds of parenting practices have been offered with the notion that they are based on brain development research, when in fact, they are based in psychological and educational research. They may be fine recommendations, but they aren't based on knowledge from early brain development.

• It is important that accurate information get communicated to parents and child care providers; in making public policy; in prevention and intervention; and in providing opportunity for all children including ethnic minorities or children living in poverty.

Resource: Center for Early Education and Development, Irving B. Harris Training Center for Infant and Toddler Development. Talking Reasonably and Responsibly About Early Brain Development. 2001. Regents of the University of Minnesota. BrainWonders: Developed 1998-2001 © ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. All rights reserved.


Normal Stages of Human Development

(Birth to 5 Years)

This page presents an overview of child development from birth to five years of age. It is important to keep in

mind that the time frames presented are averages and some children may achieve various developmental milestones

earlier or later than the average but still be within the normal range. This information is presented to help parents

understand what to expect from their child. Any questions you may have about your child's development should be

shared with his doctor.

Physical and Language Emotional Social

Birth to

1 month

Feedings: 5-8 per day Sleep: 20 hrs per day Sensory Capacities: makes basic distinctions in vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, touch, temperature, and perception of pain

Generalized Tension Helpless Asocial Fed by mother

2 months to

3 months

Sensory Capacities: color perception, visual exploration, oral exploration. Sounds: cries, coos, grunts Motor Ability: control of eye muscles, lifts head when on stomach.

Delight Distress Smiles at a Face

Visually fixates at a face, smiles at a face, may be soothed by rocking.

4 months to

6 months

Sensory Capacities: localizes sounds Sounds: babbling, makes most vowels and about half of the consonants Feedings: 3-5 per day Motor Ability: control of head and arm movements, purposive grasping, rolls over.

Enjoys being cuddled Recognizes his mother. Distinguishes between familiar persons and strangers, no longer smiles indiscriminately. Expects feeding, dressing, and bathing.

7 months to

9 months

Motor Ability: control of trunk and hands, sits without support, crawls about.

Specific emotional attachment to mother. Protests separation from mother.

Enjoys "peek-a-boo"


10 months to

12 months

Motor Ability: control of legs and feet, stands, creeps, apposition of thumb and fore-finger. Language: says one or two words, imitates sounds, responds to simple commands. Feedings: 3 meals, 2 snacks Sleep: 12 hours, 2 naps

Anger Affection Fear of strangers Curiosity, exploration

Responsive to own name. Wave bye-bye. Plays pat-a-cake, understands "no-no!" Gives and takes objects.

1 years to

1 ½ years

Motor Ability: creeps up stairs, walks (10-20 min), makes lines on paper with crayon.

Dependent Behavior Very upset when separated from mother Fear of Bath

Obeys limited commands. Repeats a few words. Interested in his mirror image. Feeds himself.

1 ½ years to

2 years

Motor Ability: runs, kicks a ball, builds 6 cube tower (2yrs) Capable of bowel and bladder control. Language: vocabulary of more than 200 words Sleep: 12 hours at night, 1-2 hr nap

Temper tantrums (1-3yrs) Resentment of new baby

Does opposite of what he is told (18 months).

2 years to

3 years

Motor Ability: jumps off a step, rides a tricycle, uses crayons, builds a 9-10 cube tower. Language: starts to use short sentences controls and explores world with language, stuttering may appear briefly.

Fear of separation Negativistic (2 ½ yrs) Violent emotions, anger Differentiates facial expressions of anger, sorrow, and joy. Sense of humor (Plays tricks)

Talks, uses "I" "me" "you" Copies parents' actions. Dependent, clinging, possessive about toys, enjoys playing alongside another child. Negativism (2 ½ yrs). Resists parental demands. Gives orders. Rigid insistence on sameness of routine. Inability to make decisions.


3 years to

4 years

Motor Ability: Stands on one leg, jumps up and down, draws a circle and a cross (4 yrs) Self-sufficient in many routines of home life.

Affectionate toward parents. Pleasure in genital manipulation Romantic attachment to parent of opposite sex (3 to 5 yrs) Jealousy of same-sex parent. Imaginary fears of dark, injury, etc. (3 to 5 years)

Likes to share, uses "we" Cooperative play with other children, nursery school. Imitates parents. Beginning of identification with same-sex parent, practices sex-role activities. Intense curiosity & interest in other children's bodies. Imaginary friend.

4 years to

5 years

Motor ability: mature motor control, skips, broad jumps, dresses himself, copies a square and a triangle. Language: talks clearly, uses adult speech sounds, has mastered basic grammar, relates a story, knows over 2,000 words (5 yrs)

Responsibility and guild Feels pride in accomplishment

Prefers to play with other children, becomes competitive prefers sex-appropriate activities.

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/normaldevelopment.shtml

Copyright © 1998- 2008 by Child Development Institute, LLC


Week One- Session Three

Title of Session: Learning Environment Content Areas: Cognitive development, classroom management, interdisciplinary approach to an early childhood classroom and self Length of lesson: 3 hours Materials needed for session: Paper, makers and flip charts Objective: The objective of the session is to provide teachers with verbal, visual and artistic methods for teaching national provisions in their learning environment. Talking points Work areas or learning centers are used to indicate a specific location where related materials are made available for learning activities. These areas are used so that children are able to become involved in the activities and allowed enough time to accomplish the activity’s goal. Learning centers allow for the teacher to work with children in small groups or individually while other children are occupied and learning. This is useful for classrooms with a wide range of abilities and differently aged children. Why use learning centers with young children? We know that children ages eight and under construct knowledge through hands-on exploration of materials and by interacting with people. (Stuber, 2007)

• We also know that children learn best when their physical needs are met and they feel psychologically safe and secure. Learning centers provide an environment where children are aware of expectations and routines.

• Children need time to think and to manipulate materials for deep learning to occur. Rushing children can discourage them from becoming too involved.

• Play and other experiences in which children engage in active learning promote development in all domains.

• When adults scaffold learning experiences to fit individual developmental levels, children’s learning improves.

• Children need both child-guided and adult-guided experiences for optimal learning. With learning centers, the teacher is able to guide small groups of children through an activity while others are working.

• An integrated curriculum helps children make connections between content areas, build on their previous learning, and strengthen their understanding of concepts.

• Strong relationships between adults and children enhance learning through purposeful and frequent interactions such as conversations, giving information, or modeling an activity. This is better using small groups with young children.


Focus activity: Set up learning centers

• Write a poem about rain • Draw a picture of your classroom • Draw a picture of yourself • Drink graph: which do you drink, Fanta, Sprite, Coke or water? • Collect 10 things to use for counting • Write a classroom schedule • Describe a way to reuse a water bottle

Divide the large group into small groups and give examples of how to do so with students. For example, trainers might use a deck of cards and give out numbered cards with instruction to find the matching set (4 of a kind). Small groups are then instructed to assign a leader to the group. The leader is responsible for facilitating questions, from trainers to other members, and to collect materials and report group’s progress. Give each group a list of centers, each member of the group signs off as the centers are completed. Turn in list to the trainer after all centers are signed. This models interactive classroom management. Guided practice Each group chooses a center to discuss with the whole group. After they report on their work, they ask other participants for further ideas and concepts to label for each center. Each center is labeled with a discipline and interdisciplinary concepts taught- Art, Language, Writing, Math, and Social. Independent Practice: Groups discuss how they can create learning centers in their classrooms. Home to school: Each learning center activity should contain a home-school connection for example, take your poem home and read with your family. Explain to families the skills learned in each center, example, the building center includes cooperative skills, problem solving, space perception, sorting and classifying and other skills. Closure: Trainers close by connecting to the next activity – the nature walk field trip. Ask, where can we find ideas and resources for our learning centers? Evaluation: Participants show their work from the learning centers and provide their feedback on how can they use learning centers. Handout packet: Learning center chart for groups


Learning center completion chart Learning Center Number

Student signature

Student signature

Student signature

Student signature

1

2

3

4

5

6


Week One - Session Four

Title of Session: Learning Environment (continued) Content Areas: Cognitive development, descriptive language development, and finding learning materials within the natural environment Length of lesson: 2 hours Materials needed for session: Handouts, Manila paper and markers Objective: Participants will be able to link natural surroundings and the resources of the classroom with their role as teacher. Focus activity:

Tell us: How do you use this environment when we

teach? List all items on the flip chart. Trainers ask participants to recall their

journey to work; who do they see, what places do they pass, etc. Talking points Take time to look around you for a moment, consider what there is in your environment that you can use as a learning tool in your classroom.

• Teachers must become aware of their surroundings as a learning resource. Keep an eye out for learning tools as you walk to school and go through a day.

• We ourselves are our most important resource - our own positive body language with wise words and a warm voice.

• The use of physical objects in your lesson can be used to complement the general points you are making in your explanation. So consider bringing in items to help teach, such as small rocks, leaves, sticks and examples of plant life.

• It is amazing to see how much attention a suitably presented object can get when it is passed around the class. Use real objects to encourage focus and language skills, such as descriptive words.

Instruct participants that they are to go on a 15 minute nature walk around the venue. Give them handout asking them to find materials useful in the classroom or objects to point out to children as they are taught various concepts. Guided practice: Trainers facilitate learning from the nature walk. List concepts taught on a walk with the children. Label each concept into disciplines; language, math, social skills, science. As


participants list items observed on the walk, trainers also present the concept of the word wall. Adding translation of children’s first language is discussed. Modeling: Connect to focus activity. The trainer models what they saw in downtown Mongu for example, the buildings and signs. The discussion focuses on how that surrounding can become a language activity to teach the children. Independent practice: Participants list the skills learned and the teaching aids available along the nature walk. Which of these can be brought into the classroom? Closure: Wrap up by asking participants to name their favorite activity of the day and what they learned while completing that activity. Evaluation: Participants are able to contribute to the word wall; words associated with the topic lessons. They should also be able to link the concept taught with each activity planned for children. Home to School: Children take home a paper and pencil. Each child will write or draw a picture/map of what they pass on the way to school. Handout: Field Trip handout


Field Trip to _______________________

What do you see? Teacher’s Role Concepts learned


Week One – Session Five Title of session: Building Language Development with Young Children Content Area: Early Literacy and pre-reading skills National Curriculum: 2.0 Language development 2.1 Aural 2.2 Oral Length of lesson: 3 hours Materials needed for session: Sentence strips, paper, makers and flip charts Objective: Participants will be able to practice early reading skills with young children using their environment as a resource. Talking points Children start to learn language from the day they are born. As they grow and develop, their speech and language skills become increasingly more complex. They learn to understand and use language to express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings, and to communicate with others. During early speech and language development, children learn skills that are important to the development of literacy (reading and writing). This stage, known as emergent literacy, begins at birth and continues through the preschool. Children see and interact with print (e.g., books, magazines, food packages) in everyday situations (e.g., home and school) well before they start elementary school. Teachers can see student’s growing appreciation and enjoyment of print as they begin to recognize words that rhyme, scribble with crayons, point out logos and street signs, and name some letters of the alphabet. (Roth, 2007) The following are ways to guide student’s growing interest in learning to read and write:

• Provide a rich literacy environment by providing books for children and other materials, such as newspaper, magazine, or cards for play at reading and writing

• Add simple stories with a basic plot and one central character to nursery rhymes and favorite tales as language abilities allow for greater listening capacity and understanding

• Provide a warm, accepting atmosphere for reading, storytelling and writing by responding to children's requests for reading and retelling of favorite stories. Also, respond to questions and comments about stories and print inside and outside the home such as packages at the grocery store, road signs, and store fronts. Encourage a student’s developing interests and point out items which relate to those interests as well as reading and rereading stories about similar events or places

• Encourage your student to describe or tell a story about his/her drawing and write down the words

• Create an environment that is supportive of early reading and writing by allowing for paper, crayons, pens, pencils, and markers when possible


Focus activity: Trainers start the session with a chair in the middle of the room. On the chair is the label “Chair” written in English and the vernacular. The group discusses the importance of the written word. The key to the environmental print is that teachers are intentional with pointing the words to the group during lessons or while playing games. Children will begin to notice the written words and point them out themselves.

Tell us: How do children first learn to read in their

environment? List all items on flip chart. Trainers ask participants to recall

environmental print they saw on the way to the workshop. Trainers list on flip charts. Discuss how words and language are part of our world from the very beginning. Guided practice Participants are asked to list 10 items in their classroom. They share this list with a partner. Each participant is given 10 index cards on which they can create their word cards to label their classroom when they return. Participants are reminded to consider indoor words, outdoor words and words used routinely. This also includes a classroom schedule and creating a schedule for parents and one to be read by the children with words and pictures. Modeling: Participants will discuss the relationship between word knowledge and cognitive development and how children are assessed according to their language. Key to facilitation is the discussion of the group’s understanding of the connection between the written word and pre-reading skills. Independent practice: In small groups, participants share their words. As they learn from their groups they may add or delete words according to the discussion. Home to school: Children take home a paper and pencil. Each child will write or draw a picture/map of what they pass on the way to school. Closure: How do we build children’s vocabulary? Participants discuss how to introduce rare words to children. List words children know but do not use due to language shortcuts modeled by adults. The trainer will facilitate why we do this and give examples. Evaluation: Participants will be able to share with a partner how they will increase the connection between oral language and the written language in their classroom by using word walls, labeling objects and posting signs for children and guardians.


Week One – Session Six

Title of session: Language and Our Stories Content areas: Cognitive development, language development, and pre-reading skills. National provisions: 3.0 Language objectives 8.0 Environmental Science Length of lesson: 3 hours Materials needed for session: Handouts Manila paper

Markers Book making materials

Objective: Participants develop awareness of the functions of stories in the classroom and learn about formal storytelling lessons for children. Focus activity: Brainstorm a list of how storytelling is a tool for learning. Books are important because they are a final form of the spoken word. Talking Points Telling stories can help children reach milestones of language development in several areas. Storytelling has the advantage of being direct communication between the listener and the teller, as children listen to stories, they become active participants. While the teacher maintains eye contact as he or she tells the story, they should observe children and look for signs of comprehension of the story and its vocabulary. (Brewer, 2007) Then the teacher should extend the story into various activities, such as:

• Encourage children to join storytelling by repeating phrases or sounds which reoccur in a story.

• Invite children to dramatize the story as it is told and after it is told. • Provide materials children can use to retell the story in a learning center area (i.e.

a spoon and bowl to retell Little Miss Muffet’s story) • Encourage children to tell their own stories, illustrate their story and add words as

they develop the story. Guided practice: Trainer tells a story. Participants listen and identify information learned about the trainer. Use handout. Activity for participants in pairs

1. Think of a story from your life 2. With a partner, tell him/her your story 3. List what you have learned about your partner from their story

Participants will use the handout as they listen to their partner’s story. Participants are then shown how to create a book from a single sheet of paper. (See handout)


Independent practice: Participants then create their own story to go into their books. Participants recall how to make a book from a single sheet of paper and make a book. Participants will begin to identify the story they wish to turn into their published book. Using the handout, they will identify parts of a story and create an outline of their story to be illustrated at the next session. Closure: Each participants chooses a different partner and discusses the potential lessions in each story shared. Evaluation: Participants create a story/book that will be useful to teach a concept to their children. Home to school: Children make a book and create a story for him/her to take home to the family. The next day teacher will ask children about their family’s reaction to their book. Handout: Two copies of the “Tell Me a Story” handout Make a book from a page


Telling me a story Activity:

1. Think of a story from your life 2. With a partner, tell him/her your story 3. List what you have learned about your partner from their story 4. Fill out the section below about your partner and their story

Here is what I learned about __________________________ (partner’s name). Life and experience outside of school Family Home life Interests Other observations


Early Care and Child Development

Teacher Training Institute Week Two

Grief and Loss

In the Lives of Children

Training available from

Women’s Global Connection Mongu Team

Beauty Masheke Mary Sitwala Nasilele


Week Two Introduction The Grief Support Workshop was developed by Dr. Sarah Williams (phase one) and Dr. Eula Pines (phase two) from 2005 to 2006. The program was initiated by the Woman’s Global Connection as part of the Reach Out Africa project in Mongu. These workshops were field tested in Mongu for cultural appropriateness and continue to be revised to meet local needs. The in-field trainers participated in train-the-trainer workshops led by Dr. Eula Pines in 2006. The Grief Support Workshop manual is a separate manual provided in English and Silozi published by Women’s Global Connection. Each trainer follows Dr. Pines’ model. The Teacher’s Training Institute is grateful to Beauty Masheke and Mary Sitwala Nasilele for translation of the material and for providing a weeklong workshop to the participants of the Institute. The following pages are intended to support that workshop by sharing information about the impact of grief and loss on children.


Grief and loss Growing up is an ongoing process of change that involves losses as well as gains. Changes such as starting childcare, school, sleeping over at a friends house, changing classes and teachers, or losing a pet, a friend or a family member all bring new challenges and new learning. Depending on the support children receive and how these early losses are dealt with, children can learn to manage and deal with the losses that will happen throughout their lives. Children do grieve and this can happen at an early age, but not in the same way that adults grieve. Children are likely to show their grief in less direct ways than adults. Children move in and out of grief. One day they will seem to be fine and another day they will be showing that they are not managing so well. Children often have more needs at times of loss, which can lead to demanding behavior as they try to get close, care, information, reassurance and support from adults. The experience of loss affects each child differently. The child's age, emotional maturity, the circumstances of the loss, and the connectedness with the person or whatever the child has lost are important factors. It is important to look at each child individually and work out what will best help that child. Times when children grieve Some of the losses for children are the same as for adults, for example:

• when a parent dies or goes away • when parents separate or a family breaks-up • loss of a friend or friendship • having a disability • loss of memories due to traumatic changes in family lifestyle • death of a grandparent • moving house or changing schools • long periods of separation from a parent • being in hospital

Other times children grieve for something that seems small to adults but is big for children, e.g. losing their comforter. Preschool children's understanding of loss • In the years before school, children don't understand that death is permanent. • They feel grief when they lose someone close to them. • The impact of the loss may be greater in the early years because they don't really

understand what is happening. • They don't understand what is real and what is not real, and they may believe that

their own wishes caused the person they loved to go away. • Losing someone who cares for them is a major stressor that takes time and care to

overcome. In a way, it is like losing a part of their self. • Young children don't have the words to express feelings and will show them in the

way they act. They may be more clingy and needy or develop problems separating from you.

• Children can be very kind to others who are unhappy and try to comfort them and then they need to go on playing again.


Early years of school children and their understanding of loss • Children are beginning to learn that death is permanent. • They begin to realize that when someone dies there is no coming back, but they

need to hear what has happened many times over. • Some children feel responsible for the death or separation and think it was because

they were naughty. • They may also be worried about who will look after them, for example, if they have

lost a parent they may worry about losing the other parent as well. • They may be very matter-of-fact in the way they talk about death and want lots of

information, such as what happens to the body. • They may not know what it is they are feeling or know the words to say how they feel

but you will see it in their behavior and play. Later primary school children and their understanding of loss • Children now understand that death is permanent. • They can also understand why death happens, eg illness, accident or old age. • They can talk about their feelings better although they might not always do so. • They are less likely to blame themselves for what has happened but they might

blame others, eg blame one parent for a divorce. • They have a strong sense of right and wrong and might have strong views about

what has happened. • They may be interested in life after death and want to know what happens then and

ask quite spiritual questions. • They may still want to know all the facts about what happens to the body or details

of an accident. • As they get older, children are more able to understand what other people are going

through as well. Teenagers and grief • Teenagers grieve in much the same way as adultsat this stage of their development,

they often have emotional 'ups and downs' they can become deeply distressed. • They can become withdrawn, depressed and moody. • They will probably want to get support and spend time with their friends more than

their family. However they still need to know that you are there for them to talk to if they need.

• Young people often show sadness through acting out and angry behavior which covers up their underlying feeling. They may turn to substance abuse for relief.

• Others just need to do active and noisy things such as go for a run, dance to loud music or play sports with friends to deal with their strong feelings.

• Still others seek comfort in music, writing poetry, walking alone or being in a quiet place to deal with their grief.

• If your teenager is facing a big loss such as the death of a friend, parent or loved grandparent it may help if he has a task to do at the funeral service or can do something special to remember that person by.


How children show their grief Young children especially do not have the words to talk about their feelings in the way that adults do. They may not even really know what they feel. Some of the ways they show grief may be: • physical pain such as stomach aches or headaches • sleeping problems, bad dreams • eating problems, eating too much or too little • being destructive • acting like a younger child • angry play or playing the same thing over and over • not being able to concentrate for long • problems with school work • being easily upset • being "mean" to others • "switching off", acting as if they have not taken in what has happened • acting more like an adult • showing fears • anger or aggression to friends, parents or toys • temper tantrums • being unhappy and blaming themselves • tendency to think the person who has gone is perfect • crying and giggling without obvious reason • not wanting to separate, clinginess, wanting to be near adults • running away, avoiding school, stealing Times of family loss are times of particular stress on children • The adults who love them may not be available to support the children if the adults

are very upset themselves. • There are strange situations to cope with eg funerals, moving house. • People around them act differently, looking sad, crying, not keeping to routines. • Children might be asked to be different, eg to be quiet, to be helpful, to be good. • They are not sure what to think or do. • When a parent dies, children need to feel (with caring acts and words) that they will

not be abandoned. Professional help is needed if a child: • talks of not wanting to live or being better off dead • seems to be preoccupied with dying • is unable to concentrate and is withdrawn at school months later • is crying, sad or depressed much of the time • is not wanting to join in or play with other children months later


What Families Can Do • Provide a safe environment where your child feels able to express feelings in

whatever way he/she can. Help the child to find ways to show his/her feelings through play, water play, writing a letter, a story, a poem, painting or drawing.

• Give clear and truthful information to children in a way that they can understand. Do not forget that children need to know what is happening even if they do not ask. Sometimes parents are so busy with their own needs that children can be overlooked. Children may not seem sad when you think they should be, because they still don't really understand what it all really means. This is not a lack of being sensitive; it is just their developmental stage.

• Allow children time to talk, ask questions and share worries with a caring adult. They might be very confused and need to ask lots of questions. If you ca not talk about it, find another adult who is close to your child who can. If children can not talk to you about the loss, they might feel that it is not safe to talk about it and so continue to have muddled and scary feelings. You may have to answer the same question over and over as your child learns to understand what has happened.

• Try to open the way if a child feels unable to talk about his feelings. Say something like "Some things are really hard to talk about, but talking can help. If you ever want to talk about what has happened, let me know".

• Be honest. Parents sometimes lie to children because they want to protect them. If you do not tell them what has happened, you may prevent them from dealing with the loss and grieving. This can cause problems when they have other losses in their lives.

• Stick to as many of the family routines as you can. Too many changes will add further stress. Doing the same things as usual helps children to feel safe.

• Think about letting your child's teacher or childcare worker know if there has been a big change or loss in your child's life. Teachers and friends at school can help to support your child.

• Keep some rules about what children are allowed to do. If you think they are taking advantage of the situation you will start to feel angry and that will not help.

• Share your own grief – do not hide your sadness. Children will feel more normal about their own feelings and feel comforted to know that the feelings they have are in line with those of the rest of the family. If you are really distressed it may not be wise to share feelings with children because it is important that they know that you are in control and can keep them safe.

• Ceremonies such as funerals can be important ways for children as well as adults to help make sense of the big changes in their lives. Sharing emotions can help people feel connected to others.

• Get support for yourself. Talk with your partner or a friend. Some agencies offer personal grief counseling.

• Remember that children grieve in bursts. They have their own individual reactions, and they feel loss just as much as adults but may show it differently.

• Allow times for extra closeness and comfort. • If your family has a spiritual belief this can be a support to children and parents. • When it feels right, help your child or teenager to move on and try something new.


Note: Children's grief can affect adults personally, especially if they are grieving themselves or if it is a reminder of a past loss. If this happens you need to deal with this. Talking with a supportive person, either a friend or a professional with an understanding of the grieving process can make a difference. Reminders • Children grieve in bursts - they do not show their grief in the same way as adults. • Keep to family routines as much as you can to give security. • Let the teacher or child care worker know what has happened. • Don't rely on your child for support. You need to support your child. • Be honest, trustworthy and reliable. • Give your grieving child special times with you to talk about feelings. • The biggest need for children and teenagers who have a loss is that they are

supported and cared for and have someone to talk to about it. • If your child or teenager seems to not be managing, seek help. Written by Child and Youth Health - Parenting South Australia http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=141&id=1662#3 8-29-07


Early Care and Child Development Teacher Training Institute

Week Three

Brandi Cross, M.Ed. Teri Evans-Palmer, M.S. Cathy McDonnell, B.A.

Mei-Yi Shen, M.Ed.


Week Three Introduction In July 2007, Brandi Cross, Teri Evans-Palmer, Cathy McDonnell and Mei-Yi Shin, four Texas educators, who came together to prepare the third week of the Teacher Training Institute. Each trainer brought their area of expertise and contributed to the curriculum by designing sessions filled with activities and concepts for an interactive workshop. Together they prepared a draft training module to use during their weeklong training. They presented the workshop to thirty preschool teachers during a week in the Western Province of Zambia. Then based on feedback from those teachers and their training experience, they made revisions and contributed their module within this manual. Their workshop includes the following sessions: Session One A Playful Introduction Session Two Developmental Domains of Child Development Session Three Playing to Learn Session Four Playing to Learn – Emergent Literacy Session Five Emergent Math and Science Skills


Week Three – Session One

Title of Session: A Playful Introduction Content Area: professional development self-awareness

types of play play for development and learning

National Provisions: 2.0 Language- Aural, Oral, Songs 3.0 Language for 5 & 6 years 10.0 Physical Skills- Types of play Time line of lesson: Full day – Using both morning and afternoon modules Material needed for session: handouts Functional Group: beads and ribbon Constructive Group: paper, scissors, glue, and markers Dramatic Group: laminated pictures of teachers, popsicle sticks, poem handouts and glue

Games with Rules Group: concept web charts, dry-erase markers, masking tape and bean bag Objectives:

• Introduction between participants and teachers • Participants will be able to list and describe the four types of play • Participants will be able to apply knowledge learned and create a lesson

Focus activity: As participants enter, presenters give each person a different color folder to designate their color group for the entire week.

Red Group (8 participants) Yellow Group (8 participants)

Green Group (8 participants) Blue Group (7 participants)

Trainers begin with a morning dedication Song - African spiritual All Night, All Day – All night, All day, Angels watching over me, my Lord. All night, All day, Angels watching over me. Then make an adaptation using a song from the same tune: All night, All day, All my children want to come to school. All night, All day, We want to read and write and play. (handout). Ask participants to make their own version or adaptation of this song tonight for homework on paper provided. Trainers introduce themselves to large group and ask if the group would like to continue using “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” as a way to measure and check for understanding. If not, brainstorm new signs of communications.


Talking Points Definition- The nature of play in childhood.

1. Child's play is intrinsically motivated because youngsters find it enjoyable. 2. Child's play is pragmatic. Children are more interested in the process of playing

than in the product of play. 3. Child's play is creative and nonliteral; it resembles real-life activities but is not

bound by reality. 4. Rules govern most of children's play, but they are implicit. When children are

playing "school" they all seem to understand the rules, but seldom are they stated as in a game of chess.

5. Spontaneity is an important element of child's play, it occurs freely and is under the control of the child.

6. Play is a behavior that is free of emotional distress. Do a KWL as large group about play- Ask participants what do they know about play and what they want to learn about play? Record on large chart paper and hang on wall. Then break into color groups for the start of work area centers. Briefly describe work areas/learning stations and divide into groups. Each group will last about 20 minutes. After 20-30 minutes trainers will stay, and their group will go to a new station. Guided Practice: Each group will be at one learning center with one trainer for 20-30 minutes and then switch groups. Functional Play center - Activity #1-Spell out names in the sand or air. Make letters using bodies. Spell out names using different exercises and stretches. For example, My name is Brandi and we will spell it out doing jumping jacks twice. B(jumping jack)-R(jumping jack)-A(jumping jack)-N(jumping jack)-D(jumping jack)-I(jumping jack) x2 Activity #2 – Make your name for the group using the alphabet beads. Each person will have a turn. Activity 3- Use alphabet and color beads and ribbon to make necklaces. Make a necklace by stringing the beads. Each participant can make a necklace with their name and keep it, or participants make a necklace using words that represent them. Constructive Play center Activity #1- Each participant can construct a symbol that represents their self or something they like to do using pipe cleaners or objects from the environment. Then trainer and participants share and discuss the symbols. Activity #2- “This is My Name” Game Description: “Name Game”


Participants will be seated in a circle and introduce themselves by saying their name slowly, breaking it down into syllables. They will use a hand or body signs for each syllable as they say it. The next participant follows, but must say the previous person’s name first. The repetition builds with the last person repeating all participants’ names and signs.

Activity Description: “Name Cards” Participants will be the introduced to the “Magic Pencil” and draw lines in the air with their finger. Each line drawn in the air is accompanied by a sound to emphasize the visual image. First, they will write their name in the air and then lightly on a paper strip with a pencil. Participants will then choose a symbol that they want to represent them and draw it by their name. The card will be folded like a tent card and used as a nameplate for the rest of the week. Letters can be outlined and filled in with color if desired. They will share their names and symbols with the group and will be encouraged to recognize and respect individuality of expression in others.

Constructive Play Center Activity #3: “This is Who I Am”

Activity Description: (Sensorimotor and preconceived, creative play) Participants will be encouraged to use their “Magic Pencil” and draw shapes in the air with their finger. Each shape drawn in the air is accompanied by a sound when the shape is closed to signify space is enclosed. Attention is focused on using geometric shapes, which children in the Symbolic/Schematic stage of development (ages 4-9) are inclined to explore (see handout). They will draw a self-portrait using crayons or markers on paper and share them with the group.

Dramatic Play Center Activity #1- Making Puppets Each participant makes puppet with their picture and popsicle stick. Trainer will read poem (Here I Am) and then demonstrate how to adapt it. Then each participant will be able to create their own poem about their self. Finally, trainer and each participant will share poem using their puppets. Trainer will discuss with participants how and when (beginning of a new semester, introduce new students, introduce a not-so-fun lesson, etc) to use puppets. The benefits for using puppet are also discussed (make lesson more interactive, dramatic, and get children’ attention easily). If time permits, the trainers can make other puppets- letter puppets, number puppets, etc. Activity # 2- Making Toys (shakers, telephone) The main purpose of this activity is to encourage participant to make something out of nothing. * Shakers: Recycle toilet paper roll and stuff with free natural source (ex: Jacaranda tree seeds), and then cover with two piece of recycle plastics on both side, seal the top with glue or rubber band. A music shaker and a attention gather is ready to use. * Phone: using two recycle small bottles or toilet paper rolls. Cover one side with a piece of plastic, then drill a small hole, insert a piece of yarn or string with one end tied with a piece of stick or toothpick. Tape a piece of tape on the stick to secure.


Games with Rules center Activity #1 – All About Me Instructor will demonstrate how to make a concept web about yourself and share with group. Then each participant will have time to make a concept web about their self. They may use pictures or words to describe their self or their hobbies or things they like to do for fun. After each group member has completed their own concept web, each participant will have a chance to share. Then instructor will start the game by tossing a bean bag to someone in the circle. The person who catches the bean bag will have to say instructor’s name and then share something they have learned about her/him. Then they will throw the bean bag to the next person who will then talk about the person who threw them the ball. Activity #2 – Animal Fun The group will sit in the circle. Instructor starts a game by pretending to be an animal and the participants will guess what animal she is. Once they have guessed the correct animal, the instructor will toss the bean bag to someone else. Whoever catches it, will pretend to be an animal until someone else guesses the correct animal, etc. Activity #3 – Riddles, Who Am I? Whoever catches the bean bag makes up a riddle about another person in their group. The other group members have to guess who the riddle is about. I.E. A participant catches the bean bag and says, “I am a pretty girl with brown hair. I go to school and just got married – Who Am I?” The group will then need to guess and figure out the riddle is about Cathy. OR “My name begins with a C and has five letters – Who Am I? BREAK: After all stations are completed, the whole group will come together and take a break. More Guided Practice and Modeling: Talking Points Whole group-Discuss how teachers need to keep in mind PAM (Prior Knowledge, Active Participation, Meaningful) when teaching. (PASS OUT PAM HANDOUT!) Prior knowledge-

• When starting a new topic always bring in a person’s prior knowledge. • Prior knowledge is something they know about and/or have experienced (For

example, first activities are all about one’s self, Also we are providing different play experiences so when we talk later about the different play categories, they will have an experience to look back on

Active learning-

• A process in which learning results from a child actively engaged with information and materials.

• Preschool children- senses are engaged in moving, listening, searching, feeling and manipulating.


• Through active learning, child tries to make sense of new objects and information.

• Learning is carried out by learner not teacher and thechild has interest in what he/she is doing.

Meaningful-

• Because learning is meaningful in the eyes of the child (For, example in our making words lessons we need to make sure the words we use are relevant to their culture.

• Because meaningful learning has a purpose in the participant’s and children’s lives

• Teachers try to make all learning experiences meaningful. (For example, if we show the letter a also show the apple picture and show how it begins with an /a/. Then ask for participants to give examples and let them come write it on our class list

Play can incorporate all these attributes of PAM. Trainers will discuss play and talk about the role of play for cognitive and linguistic development. Functional Play –Functional play is play involving repeated body movements or motions. Functional play is also known as practice play. This play is characterized by repeated actions. Practice play can also be mental, such as repeated vocalizations. For example, when babies babble and when children and adults sing. Constructive Play –Constructive play is a combination of sensorimotor activity and a preconceived plan and creativity. Here, child moves from merely handling objects to making, building, or constructing something. Painting, sand, and water play are all examples of constructive play. Art, art, art. Instructor can pass out and further describe the handout. Dramatic Play –Dramatic Play is also known as sociodramatic play. Sociodramatic is observed in social play and/or pretend play. Playing house, restaurant, doctor’s office, acting out scenarios are all types of dramatic play. Puppets, finger puppets, and imitating animals are excellent types of dramatic play seen in schools. An example is a baby or child with a toy. Thematic play. Games with Rules – This type of play is characterized as games or activities that have boundaries not as spontaneous as the other types of play. Board games, marbles, basketball, soccer, tag, etc. These types of games have rules. The teacher or children can make up the rules. These types of games teach children to take turns, negotiate, plan, share, and work with others cooperatively. Break into color groups and discuss PAM more. Each group can fill out a worksheet.


Get into whole group or small groups and do work areas. Each trainer needs to show how the games they did at the beginning fit into their play category. Describe the activities and how they fall into the specific type of definition of play. Each trainer can show how their type of play involves cognitive thinking and has a specific purpose for brain development and the different domains of development. Trainers need to check for understanding during modeling by having participants actively participate and/or demonstrate. Independent Practice: Large group will breaks into small color groups with one trainer for each group. Create a game that is appropriate for classroom use for each type of cognitive play category. Closure: Bring whole group back together. Closing discussion should focus on “why play is important for the life of the child”. As teachers, our job is to provide learning that is motivational and stimulating for the child. Wrap-up the lesson and maybe share some application from independent practice groups. Finish KWL chart from this morning. Ask the participants what they learned today about play. Evaluation: For homework participants need to fill out play worksheet. Handout Packet: African spiritual handout with lines so they can create their own versions Poem handout Concept Web handout PAM handout Types of Cognitive Play handout Adult Roles in Cognitive Play handout K-W-L handout


African Spiritual: All Night, All Day

(Sing while clapping and using hand movements) All night, All day, Angels watching over me, my Lord. All night, All day, Angels watching over me.

New Version:

(Sing with hand movements) All night, All day, All my children want to come to school. All night, All day, We want to read and write and play.

My Own Version:

Here I Am Poem Source Unknown

Here I am Look at me. These are all the things You’ll see. A writer. A reader, A laugher, A leader, A winker, A blinker, A lemonade-drinker. A thinker as smart As a thinker can be. A thinker who is glad to be me!

I am _________________________.


Here I Am Poem Here I am Look at me. These are all the things You’ll see. A ____________. A ____________, A ____________, A ____________, A ____________, A ____________, A ______________________. A thinker as smart As a thinker can be. A thinker who is glad to be me!

I am __________________________.

Here I Am Poem

Here I am Look at me. These are all the things You’ll see. A singer. A dancer, A teacher, A cooker, A woman, A tall one, A basketball-player. A thinker as smart As a thinker can be. A thinker who is glad to be me!

I am (Instructors Name as example).


Concept Web handout- All About Me!


PAM P P = PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

When introducing or teaching a new topic try and integrate the child’s prior knowledge. For example, if learning about plants discuss the childrens’ past experiences and ask what they know about plants or bring a plant in the classroom and ask the children if they know what you are holding up. The teacher may draw a plant or ask children what is their favorite plant and record answers. Other ways to activate prior knowledge:

• Ask what children do at home with their families or what they already know about a topic

• Do a KWL chart when teaching • Allow children to ask questions beforehand • Draw pictures

A A = ACTIVE LEARNING When teaching always allow the children to have hands-on experiences. For example, if teaching about plants ask the children to each go outside and find a plant and draw it. Also, allow the children to hold the plant, touch the plants parts, touch seeds, etc. *** Remember, the learning needs to be carried out by the child, not the teacher. Other ways to incorporate active learning:

• Draw pictures and have scavenger hunts • Allow children to use manipulatives • Have children pretend to be objects • Have children model activities and teach each other • Create and sing songs about topics being learned • PLAY GAMES!

M M = MEANINGFUL LEARNING Teachers always need to make lesson and activities meaningful to the child. The child needs to be interested in what is being taught and understand the importance of what is being taught. For example, when adding words to the word wall and learning to read the words need to be simple and useful for the child. Ways to ensure meaningful learning:

• Make lessons fun and simple • Allow children to help plan lessons and activities • Ask the children what they are interested in


PAM Worksheet for small groups

1. What does P stand for? 2. What does A stand for? 3. What does M stand for?

4. Do you have any questions?


Types of Cognitive Play

Type of Play What Is It? Examples Functional Play Practice or pretend play.

Singing songs or repeated body movements or motions. Doing something over and over again.

• Stringing beads • Jumping jacks • Jumping in place • Jumping rope • Singing •

Constructive Play Making, building, or constructing something using hands and materials or manipulatives. It does not matter what the outcome or product is.

• Drawing in the sand or water

• Making a fort • Making a picture with

sticks, leaves, or rocks

• Building a tower or house

Dramatic Play Social or pretend play. Children can act out roles and events. Children can use objects as props or just pretend.

• Playing with a puppet • Acting in a play • Playing grocery store,

teacher, or doctor. • Playing house

Games with Rules Simple games that have rules. The rules can be created by teacher or children. These games teach children to share, plan, and work together with others.

• Games using a ball or bean bag

• Tossing games • Matching and sorting

games • Sports games


Scribbling is the child's first artwork

Scribbling (Mark Making) Stage Babies that smear food are learning to scribble.

Pounding a marker on paper is an early form of scribbling. A child that can grab your finger is old enough to hold a crayon for scribbling.

Disordered

(first scribbles)

Longitudinal

Circular

Naming

(becoming verbal and symbolic)

Motivation Provide Materials Use noise questions Use kinetic questions "Does your marker like to dance" "Does the crayon like to skate?" "How fast can it spin?" Use direction questions: "Does the crayon go up the paper? Down the paper?" Use size and color questions: "Does the marker make a circle?" “Is this circle larger than that one?” Utilize sounds, noises, music Do not worry about "pictures" because the drawing is more about motion and action than drawing something to look at.

Materials For growth, materials need good line contrast. Maximize use of Dark and Bright on white Examples are: Markers, Crayons Thick Paints firm bristle brushes Clay and similar modeling materials, wet chalk on dark paper Wet Sand. Blocks - natural wood and colored. Sorting sets of Color, Texture, and Shape. Puzzles Minimize use of transparent watercolor, soft hair brushes, and finger-paints because they are harder to see and to harder to learn the connection between action and result

For More Growth Ask for the story of the picture. Encourage verbalization, explanation. Ask about under, over, which is bigger, smaller, sad and happy. Ask if there is any more that they want to add? Ask where to place their name?

Lowenfeld, V. (1964) Creative and Mental Growth (4th ed.).


Homework Assessment

1. What is Functional play?

2. What is Constructive play?

3. What is Dramatic play?

4. What is Games with Rules?

5. What is your favorite type of play? Why?


Week Three - Session Two

Title of Session: Developmental Domains of Child Development Content Area:

Professional Development Language Arts Mathematics

Science Fine Art Social Studies

National Provisions: 7.0 Pre-Mathematical activities for 5 & 6yrs 9.0 Environmental Science for 5 & 6 yrs

12.0 & 13.0 Creative Work

Time line of lesson: Morning session Materials needed for session: Chart paper, markers and masking tape Objectives: Participants will learn and be able to describe the four developmental domains of child development. Focus activity: Ask for volunteers for morning dedication. Participants can share their own song from yesterday or we can do a new spiritual, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. Review: Review from yesterday: Trainers ask for volunteers to give demonstrations and/or verbally describe each of the four play categories. Participants share their homework answers. As volunteers share each teacher can take turns and make group concept maps & lists.

Functional Play

Repeated body

movements Exercise or

Practice play

Babbling and singing

Can be mental and/or physical

Swinging and jump-

rope


***Hang the charts on the wall with masking tape Talking Points Physical Developmental Domain–

• Physical development encompasses physiological changes and motor skills. • Physical fitness allows children to participate in group activities, and perform

tasks necessary to leaning process. • Motor development has 2 components: 1) Gross motor skills 2) Fine motor skills. • Physical development is central to child’s overall development because children

represent their thought and feelings through movement. Objectives for children in Physical Domain

1. Gain confidence using body 2. Develop positive attitude toward body 3. Develop awareness of body parts 4. Develop body control and balance 5. Develop strength and coordination of large muscle systems 6. Develop strength and coordination of small muscle systems 7. Control the movement of body in relation to objects 8. Develop physical fitness – health, strength, stamina, ability to exercise

Cognitive Developmental Domain –

• Cognitive development is about knowing, thinking; encompassing the knowledge and understanding about physical and social worlds

• Refers to process through which children develop abilities to think, assimilate, and use information

• Is essential for daily functioning and success across a range of educational and social contexts

Objectives for children in Cognitive Development Domain 1. Explore properties of objects and relationships between objects 2. Discriminate between similarities and differences of objects 3. Organize objects, events and information by means of matching,

classifying, sequencing, and patterns 4. Attach meaning to symbols 5. Develop knowledge of numbers and counting 6. Develop scientific knowledge 7. Develop problem-solving skills

Language Developmental Domain - • This is the learning of language forms (letters, words, sentences, etc.) • Expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas • When language is learned, children are able to articulate, share, and respond to

others Objectives for children in Language Domain

1. Develop effective listening skills 2. Identify and discern differences and similarities among sounds 3. Speak effectively using appropriate language 4. Experiment with language sounds, rhythm, volume, pitch, and words 5. Use appropriate body language 6. Develop interest in reading and shared reading 7. Develop interest in writing


Social-Emotional Developmental Domain -

• Children’s ability and desire to interact effectively with others • Critical for lifelong learning and well being • For successful development in this domain children need secure, consistent,

responsive, and physically and emotionally nurturing relationships Objectives for children in Social-Emotional domain:

1. Regulate and express emotions 2. Understand the feeling of others 3. Develop positive self-concept 4. Develop respect for self and others 5. Recognize, appreciate, and respect similarities and differences among

people 6. Engage in peaceful negotiations and conflict-resolution

Guided Practice: Teachers introduce the Developmental Domains. On flip chart with large paper make four columns and after each trainer discusses her domain she can refer to flip chart and fill in their column with relevant keyword/characteristics provided by participants. This can be done in whole or small groups. The goal is to define the different domains and how each domain relates to the child and how it influences the child’s learning. After two work areas have been completed, BREAK Independent Practice: After all the work areas have been finished participants will meet with their color group and each trainer will check for understanding. Each color group can be assigned a domain to review. This can be a small focus group and each group can make a chart about their domain and create an activity. Groups can share their work with the whole group during closure. Closure: Meet together as large group and check for understanding with participants. Ask for volunteers to share their small group work. Evaluation: Let participants break into partner groups and fill out assessment worksheets.


Week Three- Session Three

Title of Session: Playing to Learn Content Area: All content areas National Provisions: 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.11, 7.13, 9.9, 9.10, 9.11, 9.1412.1.1 Time line of lesson: afternoon session Material needed for session: dry erase markers, paper, soda tabs, number cards and blank calendar template Objectives:

• Participants will see how playing to learn involves all developmental domains. • Participants will be able to apply knowledge and develop specific activities.

Focus activity: Ask for volunteers for morning dedication. Participants can share there own song from yesterday or we can do another adaptation as whole group, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands and/or an adaptation. Review: Handouts/worksheet for review from last session. Let participants break into groups of four to fill out worksheets. Trainers can walk around and answer questions and offer help. Guided Practice: Trainers can show correlations between play and the domains of child development. Discuss how playing to learn can help teachers and children master objectives of each domain and subject areas. (Literacy and Language Domain will be covered on day 3 with alphabet cards) DOING THIS AS A WORK AREA AGAIN WAS SUGGESTED. THERE WILL ONLY BE THREE WORK AREAS. LANGUAGE DOMAIN WILL BE DISCUSSED FURTHER IN-DEPTH TOMORROW Time indicated is for example only Work area 1 –(1:00-1:30) Work area 2 –(1:30-2:00) Work area 3 –(2:00-2:30) Talking points Continue discussion of gross motor development Physical Development Center -

• Large Motor Skills – large body movements using the body trunk and limbs o Hops on both feet o Catches ball with both hands o Throws a ball 5 feet with accuracy o Balances on one foot o Skips o Throws, catches, and bounces large ball o Progresses to using smaller ball or object o Walks a line forward and backward o Runs, jumps, hops, with ease


• Fine Motor Skills - more precise and smaller body movements using fingers o Cut and paste o Holds small manipulatives pencils, crayons, brushes, etc (write with a

small rock in the sand o Creates pictures with media o Begins to form letters and numbers o Strings beads or other manipulatives o Manipulate dough or clay

• Physical activity can utilize functional play and incorporate all subject areas

Language Development – Reading and Writing – Go over on day 3 Cognitive Development

• Mathematics Center o Counting and Numeration

§ Counts by rote 1-10, 1-20, 1-30, 1-50 § Demonstrated concepts of numbers 1-5… § Order numerals 1-…. § Understands first and last § Writes numbers § Connects values with numbers § Use ordinal numbers through 5 (first, second, third, fourth , fifith)

o Number Operations § Group objects into sets of equal numbers § Compares elements of unequal sets (more/than, less/than § Combines (adds) the total number in two small groups § Separates a group (up to 10) into two small groups (subtracts)

o Measurement § Understands (big/little, long/short) § Measures using simple tools (leaves, caps, even sticks, soda tabs) § Compares differences (taller/shorter, longer/shorter, thinner/wider)

o Geometry (Shapes) § Identify basic shapes (circle, rectangle, triangle, oval, square) § Classifies common objects by shape

o Geometry (Patterns) § Notices and copies simple patterns § Notices color and shape patterns in the environment § Constructs patterns using shapes, colors, etc.

o Mathematical Reasoning § Sorts objects § Sorts objects and counts and compares the groups formed § Organizes and displays data through simple graphs


• Science Center o Identifies sounds verbally o Identifies animals in the environment o Identifies colors o Calendar, days of the week, months of the year, holidays, birthdays,

weather, etc. § Before/after § Earlier/later § Morning/noon/night § Today/tomorrow § Yesterday/today

o Compare likenesses and difference among two objects (shape, size, color, opposites)

(ex: Using two different size of bottle and pull into same amount of color, water, to help children learned the amount)

o Identifies spatial relationships (using real object with repeated

demonstration to teach will help children to understand better) § Far/near § In/out § Front/back § High/low § Top/bottom § Over/under

o Identify & classify foods (fruits, vegetables, meats) o Arrange & classify objects by size and length

Social Emotional Development Center

• Play o Child engages in independent play o Engages in parallel play o Plays with peers o Takes turns and shares

• Social o Positive self perception o Describe their self o Describe others and family o Converses with other children o Sings with a group o Listens to others o Describe land, famous figures, etc.


Social Emotional Development Center Activity #1: Play (Independent, Peer Sharing) Musical Game or Dance Game Description: “We are Ourselves, Together; Growth and Movement Game” Participants will stand in a circle and talk about the sequence of seasons and cycles in nature (i.e. seeds growing into plants, birds hatching from eggs, etc.). They will select a natural object or organism and, together, use their bodies to demonstrate the sequence of growth with each person showing a stage in the sequence. When each stage is decided, the leader says, “Begin!” and the cycle flows from one person to another. The cycle repeats again and again until it is a seamless performance. Art Activity Description: “A Piece of Our World” Mural (If time allows) Participants will work together on a large piece of paper drawing a sequence in nature or a community activity (such as a celebration) that involves members in a group. The beginning of the sequence is on the far left with the conclusion on the right. Drawing or torn paper collage materials can be used. After completion, the mural should be displayed for all to enjoy. Point out lines and shapes that were used. Closing & Evaluation: Whole group comes together and charts information about each domain. For each domain we can answer the questions: What is the ___________ domain? What content areas does this domain affect? What are some ways we can teach this domain in the classroom? What is one play activity that incorporates this domain? Homework: Fill in the Developmental Domain worksheet Create an adaptation for He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands Handouts: African Spiritual Handout-He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands Developmental Domain Handout Developmental Domain Worksheet Laminated blank calendar Characteristics of a Child-Centered Curriculum


African Spiritual: He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands (Sing while clapping and using hand movements) He’s got the whole world in His hands, He’s got the whole wide world in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the---- Wind and the rain in his hands, He’s got the sun and the moon in His hands, He’s got the wind and the rain in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the---- Little bitty baby in His hands, He’s got the little bitty baby in His hands, He’s got the little bitty baby in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the---- You and me, brother, in His hands, He’s got you and me, sister, in His hands, He’s got ev’ry body in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands.


The Developmental Domains of Child Development Physical Domain - Physical Development is the physical development of the child. It is how the child learns to walk, skip, run, hop, jump, hold a pencil, write and perform different body movements using gross and fine motor skills. This domain is important to help the child stay healthy and necessary for the child to learn and have the capability to perform more difficult tasks like riding a bike or carrying objects. This domain is important in order for the child to develop body and spatial awareness, balance, coordination and strength.

Gross Motor Skills: Gross motor skills use the bodies large muscle systems. Activities that involve gross motor skills are walking, running, jumping, hopping, balancing on one leg, walking in a straight line, and throwing and catching a large ball. Fine Motor Skills: Fine motor skills use the bodies smaller muscle systems. Activities that use fine motor skills are writing, forming letters, holding pencils and other manipulatives and stringing beads.

Cognitive Domain – The Cognitive domain of development is about knowing, thinking, and encompassing the knowledge and understanding about physical and social worlds. This involves the intake of information and how the child understands new information. This domain is important for learning in all subject areas. Development in this domain leads to higher level thinking skills and the ability to problem solve in all subject areas and life. The development of this domain allows the child to:

• Sort and organize • Sequencing and putting things in order • Attach meaning to symbols • Attach values to numbers • Identify and classify • Match and compare groups • Learn many mathematical and scientific processes

Language Domain – The Language developmental domain is the needed for the child to be able to talk, communicate, and express feelings and ideas. This domain involves:

• Learning letters • Recognizing letters for words and words make sentences • Reading, writing, and talking • Ability to share ideas and understand what other people are saying • Noticing different sounds • Being a good listener and speaker

Social-Emotional Domain – The Social-Emotional developmental domain involves the child’s feelings about their self and about others. Development in this domain affects

• How the child works and plays with others • How the child solves problems and conflicts • Whether the child has a positive or negative self-esteem • Whether the child feels safe or not • All relationships the child forms throughout their life


Developmental Domain Worksheet

Write which developmental domain the sentence describes. The answer will be physical domain, cognitive domain, language domain, or social-emotional domain. Each answer may be used more than once. 1.) This domain involves the child’s feelings and how well they play with other children. _________________________________________ 2.) This domain involves the child being able to throw and catch a ball. _________________________________________ 3.) This domain involves how the child feels about their self and whether they have a positive or negative self-esteem. _________________________________________ 4.) This domain involves the child’s ability to put number in order from 1-20. _________________________________________ 5.) This domain involves the child being able to write a sentence. _________________________________________ 6.) This domain involves the child being able to draw a picture in the sand. __________________________________________ 7.) This domain involves the child being able to sort objects into groups based on color. ___________________________________________


Developmental Domains Homework In your own words define one of the developmental domains.

Using an item from your home create a game that is an example of one of the different types of play. On the back of this age describe or draw a picture of your game (Functional play, Constructive play, Dramatic play, Games with Rules)

Characteristics of a Child-Centered Curriculum

The Role of the Child The Role of the Teacher To take responsibility for learning To conduct teaching To participate in classroom tasks To plan activities for all domains of

development To engage in activities with other children and the teacher

To plan activities that provide application of learning

To learn how to use and replace classroom materials

To learn to plan with and for children

To help with classroom planning To learn how to work with small groups and the whole class in learning activities

To help others classmates and share materials and to develop team skills

To learn how to manage the classroom environment that supports hands-on learning

Ways to make learning more child-centered and meaningful:

• Everyday let one child be the class leader who helps the teacher with special tasks. • Ask the children what they would like to count. (sticks, rocks, leaves, beans, cups,

bottles, letters …) • Ask the children what word they would like to learn today and add on the word wall. • When a child learns something new, let the child teach what they learned to the

whole class or a friend. • Children should put away materials and manipulatives after activities. • Let the children help gather, save, and collect classroom materials. • Make up new songs, stories, and games with the children. • Let children share their work. Think of one more way you can make your classroom more child-centered.


Week Three- Session Four Title of Session: Playing to Learn-Emergent Literacy Content Area: Language Arts/Reading/Writing National Provisions: Emergent Reading Skills Time line of lesson: All day- morning and afternoon sessions Material needed for session: alphabet cards and dry-erase markers Objectives- • The participants will learn about the Language developmental domain. • The participants will apply knowledge of language domain in small groups. • The participants will learn emergent reading strategies and techniques. Focus Activity: Ask participants for dedication, maybe share a poem or song they created. Maybe they teach us a poem, song, or rhyme. Backup: Poem/Chant: Wade in the Water Review: As whole group discuss the homework activity from yesterday. Volunteers can come up and share answers. Talking Points Briefly introduce today’s objectives and describe how we will be going into detail about the language domain and teaching emergent literacy skills. As whole group or break into color groups and each trainer will teach their groups about Language Domain.


Language Domain- Communication and Early Literacy (Talking, Writing, Reading, & Listening)

• Language o Produces language o Recognizes and verbally names common objects o Responds correctly to simple instructions o Uses sentences with four or five words o Asks questions o Invents story for a picture o Retells a story in proper sequence o Identifies a concept of a word

• Early literacy/writing o Recognizes letters and identifies letter names o Recognizes letter sounds o Begins to form letters o Recognizes words are made of letters o Directional skills of reading

§ Read left to right § Start reading at top of page § Punctuation § Sentences have words and spaces

o Begins to apply knowledge of letter sounds in order to sound out and read words

o Copy words Review: Review domains in small groups. Each group gets one domain and records the important information about that domain. They need to describe what that domain is and why it is important for development. Then get into large group and one person from each group share their work. Trainers can ask questions for clarification and to check for understanding. Guided Practice: As a whole group, introduce the alphabet cards and describe the emergent reading activities. Independent Practice: Discuss early emergent Reading/Writing Skills and break into color groups. Each group can go over examples of Early Emergent Literacy Activities Part 1. Allow participants to make notes and draw pictures on their handouts so they can remember games later.


Emergent Literacy Activities: Part 1 These activities are beginning literacy activities in order to learn letters, their sounds, and to begin to learn how to write and form the various alphabet letters. Here are some activities: Activity #1 – LETTERS IN A LINE: Each child gets an alphabet card and together the class puts the alphabet together in order. After the alphabet is laid out the teacher and students can come up with words that begin with each letter and the teacher can write the word in the sand below the letter. Extensions: -Class can sing the alphabet song together and children can raise their card high as their letter is sung. -The class can put the alphabet in reverse order. Activity #2 – ALPHABET SCRAMBLE: The teacher lays the alphabet down in order, but with a few letters out of place. Then he/she lets the children work together to figure out which letters are out of order and put the alphabet in order correctly. Extensions: -The teacher scrambles all the letters and the class puts the alphabet in order as fast as possible. Activity #3 – THE LETTERS ARE MISSING: The teacher lays out the alphabet in order, but leaves a few letters out. The teacher then lets the children figure out what letters are missing. Extensions:- The teacher hides the letters around the classroom or outside. The children will go on a letter hunt and find the missing letters. When all the letters are found the children put the letters in order to form the alphabet. Activity #4 – SPIN THE BOTTLE: Children sit in large circle with one letter of the alphabet in front of them. The teacher places a bottle full of rocks, pebbles, or sand in the middle of the circle. The teacher or a child spins the bottle. Wherever the bottle points to when the bottles stops spinning, that child holds up their letter and says that letter name. Extensions: -Wherever the bottle points to when it stops spinning, that child picks up that letter and says the sound that letter makes. For example, /a/ says aaaaaahhhhh. -Wherever the bottle points to when it stops spinning, that child picks up that letter and says a word that begins with that letter. The other children can help. For example, “Apple begins with /a/”. Activity #5 – SAY AND SEE Teacher lays out the alphabet cards in order. Then the teacher says a sound and picks a child. That child has to pick up the letter that makes that sound. Teacher repeats the activity using different sounds. Activity #6 – MY NAME BEGINS WITH….. The teacher lays out the alphabet in order. Each child gets a turn to pick the letter that their name starts with. For example, Teri goes and picks up the /t/ and says “My name begins with T”. Then that child makes a big /t/ in the sand. All the children also draw a /t/ in the sand. Extensions: -Each child gets a turn to pick the letter that their name ends with. Activity #7 – THE LETTER TRAIN If the teacher has 20 students in her class she makes 20 letter /t/’s in a line in the sand. The class lines up and each student traces over all the /t/’s until all the class has gone down the line.


Extensions: -The children sit in a circle and the teacher writes one letter of the alphabet in the sand in front of each child. The children trace over their letters for 10 seconds and then when the teacher says switch, the children all move one place around the circle and trace the next letter. -Children can also make letter in air and in water. Activity # 8 – MAKE THE LETTER Teacher allows children to gather items of choice from outside. For example, rocks, corn husks, leaves, sticks, sand, string, rice, cloth, etc. When the children come back they need to make the letter that their name begins with. Extensions: -Do this activity making the other letters of the alphabet. Activity # 9 – MAKE YOUR NAME The teacher will lay out all the cards in the alphabet in order. The teacher models by making her name with the letters. Then, each child gets a turn to spell out their name. If there are two of the same letters in a name then the teacher can take one of the blank cards and write the extra letter for the child to use. Activity # 10 – HUNT & DRAW The teacher hides all the letters. The children go on a letter hunt and find a letter and come back to the circle. Then, together the class can come up with an object that begins with that letter. Together the children and teacher can draw the picture in the sand or draw it with a dry erase marker and laminated paper. Extensions: -The picture can also be made with sticks and leaves, etc. Activity # 11 – BODY LETTERS The teacher holds up a letter of the alphabet and each child makes that letter with their body. For some letters children might need to work in small groups or partners. Activity # 12 – WHO STOLE THE LETTER! The children and teacher sit in a circle with all the letters in a container, jar, basket, cup or whatever is available. The teacher picks the first letter and begins the song… All sing: (Clap hands, and legs while singing)

Who stole the letter from the letter jar? Ms. Cross stole the /a/ from the letter! Ms. Cross: Who me? (asking) Everyone else: Yes you! (everyone points to Ms. Cross) Ms. Cross: Couldn’t be me (shaking her head) Everyone else: Then who??? (shrugging your shoulders) Then Ms. Cross gets to pick the next person: “John” and then the song continues from beginning.


Activity # 13- Lacing alphabet card Fine motor skills are important to develop for future writing and penmanship. One way to develop fine motor skills is to practice using the small muscles in the hands. Lacing cards are a great way for preschoolers to develop these muscles in a fun way. Lacing cards also further develop hand to eye coordination. Lasing card can be used in many different ways to learn alphabets and numbers. Such as:

* number: Depend on the number the children learned, teacher can make lacing card with number 1-10, 1-30, etc. * 26 alphabets: For making a alphabet card, drill 26 holes and a piece of cardboard or any kind thick recycle cardboard will work. After teaching the 26 alphabet, this lacing game can help children to learn the alphabet order. * Alphabet-word: Draw out a pattern coordinates with each alphabet, ex: A- Apple, E-elephant. And punch hole around the character. Teacher can observe children when they doing this card to see if they know how to spell out the word in right order.

Material: Yarn (any color)/ Masking tape / Single hole punch / box or cutout of child's favorite character How to make: 1. Use the shape of the box or the shape of the character to determine the size the lacing card. The size of the lacing card also determines the number of holes that can be laced by the preschooler. 2. Take a single hole punch and put holes around the character on the box. The holes can be spaced at about two inch increments. This can vary, based on personal preference. 3. Cut yarn in a length that is approximately seven inches longer than the length you need to string the entire lacing card. When determining the length of the yarn for the lacing card just measure the circumference of the shape, then add seven inches. 4. Tie a knot on one end of the string and put masking tape around the other end. The tape makes it easier for the preschooler to string the card. 5. Pick up the string and lace it through the holes. Review: Whole group can divide into groups of 5 or 6 and create their own activity with alphabet cards. Groups come together and share with whole group. Guided Practice:

Discuss the Emergent Literacy Activities Part 2 in color groups. Discuss the Emergent Literacy Activities Part 3

Words are made of letters, sounding out,…..etc. Introduce basic concepts. We sound out letters to read words……Maybe do one activity as whole group to introduce concept. Independent Practice: Break into small groups recap and go over Emergent Literacy Activities Part 2 and use alphabet cards. Following are the Emergent Literacy Activities Part 2.


Emergent Literacy Activities: Part 2 These activities are for children who already know all the letters and their sounds. These activities are to help teach children how to make and read simple words for beginning reading skills. Activity #1 – CAN YOU FEEL IT! Teacher divide the class into groups of two. Each child takes turns. One sits on the floor with legs crossed. The second student sits behind the first student. The second student writes a letter on the first student’s back. The first student tries to guess the letter being written. Once the letter has been guessed the students switch roles. Activity #2 – SPIN THE BOTTLE! The teacher puts different words or the names of the children in a circle. In the middle of the circle there is a bottle. The child spins the bottle and whatever word the bottle points to the child needs to sound out the letters and read that word. Activity #3 – MYSTERY WORD OF THE DAY Every day when the children come to school have a new word hiding behind a piece of paper. Sit in a circle and give the children a hint (show them the first letter). Then let the children guess what they think the word is. After several guesses show the second letter and let them sound out the letters and keep guessing what the word is. The bean bag can be tossed for the children to take turns guessing. Finally, show all the letters and let the children take turns sounding out the word until someone reads the word. After the word has been read, discuss the word and its meaning, and add it to the word wall. Activity #4 – TRACE & MAKE THE WORD In the sand or on paper write a word or use the letters to make a word. Have the children copy the word on paper, in the sand, or trace over the letters. Then let the child sound out and read the word. Also you can let the child use sticks, rocks, or leaves to copy the word.


Activity #5 - LETTER SLIDE Draw a slide on a piece of paper or in the sand. At the bottom of the slide make a word with the letter cards, but leave the first letter off. Let the child have the first letter and slide the letter down the slide until it bumps into the word. Then have the child sound out and read the word. For this activity it is good to use simple rhyming words with the same ending so many first letters can be used to form several words.

_at _ap _an _it _ake _ing _ell _ail _eat cat cap can lit make sing bell pail Eat sat lap man hit bake ding fell sail Seat rat rap fan pit lake ring yell nail Heat pat map ran kit cake swing shell rail Beat mat tap pan bit wake sting tell jail Meat hat zap tan fit fake wing fail Neat fat nap van take king snail bat gap rake mail _ar _all _ill _un _ick _ame _ide _ock _og jar ball will sun lick game ride rock Log far fall pill fun tick name side lock Dog tar wall gill run pick same hide sock Frog car tall hill bun sick came wide dock Hog hall fill nun click tame shock call gun thick fame clock slick blame


Emergency Literacy Activities Part #3 Once children begin to recognize and read words they can start making and reading simple sentences. These activities are to show children that words can be put together to make sentences. Between the words are spaces. At the end of words are periods to show the end of the sentence. Sentences express ideas or thoughts. Activity #1 – FINISH THE SENTENCE Using sentence write the beginning of a sentence. Let the child pick a picture and place it at the end of the sentence. Let the child read the sentence and let a new child have a turn. The teacher cam place a word or picture at the end of the sentence to make new sentences. As children read the sentences make sure they point and touch each word as they read the sentence. Example sentences: I like the _____________. I see a ________________. This is a _______________. Activity #2- SPELL A WORD Teacher write the beginning of a sentence on a sentence strip. Make the last word with the letter cards. Let children take turns reading different sentences. When children become good at this game let them make the last word with the letter cards and read the sentences. As children read the sentence make sure they point and touch each word as they read it. Example sentences: My name is b-r-a-n-d-i. I see the color p-i-n-k. I can g-o. Activity #3 – MAKE A SENTENCE On small pieces of paper write common words like…..the, go, have, a, mom, can, see, to, I, can, like, red, cat, tree, dog, we, blue, … Then let children takes turn choosing words and making a sentence. Let the child read the completed sentence and then let another child have a turn.


Activity #4 – LETTER TRAIN Teacher and children will work together and generate a list of words that begin with the same letter (This is a brainstorm activity in which the students work together to think of words and the teacher writes them on a list). After the list is created, the words are put together to make a sentence. For example, letter “L”: Children can act out the sentence. They could also draw what images come to their mind, creating an illustration of the sentence. In a classroom with older students, each child could choose a letter, make a list of words and write a sentence using the words from the list. A drawn illustration of the written sentence could be glued above and each drawing could be a page in an alphabet book that the class makes together. Closing & Evaluation: Ask participants to divide into groups of 3 and model one or two activities with each other. Homework: Ask participants to go home and think about a book they would like to make tomorrow. Also, think and write down any questions or activities they would like further explained. Handouts: African American Spiritual: Wade In the Water Emergent Literacy Activities Parts 1,2, & 3

Laughing Lolo liked to lick lemons.


African Spiritual: Wade in the Water

(Sing while clapping and using hand movements) Wade in the water, wade in the water, children Wade in the water, God’s a gonna trouble the water. See that band all dressed in white, God’s a gonna trouble the water. The leader looks like the Israelite, God’s a gonna trouble the water.

New Version:

(Sing with hand movements) Come to school today, come to school, my children. Come to school to school today, we are gonna play letter games. I see the letters b-l-u-e, I see the letters b-l-u-e. I see the letters b-l-u-e, I can read the word, blue!

My Own Version:


Week Three – Session Five

Title of Session: Emergent Math and Science Skills Content Areas: Mathematics & Science National Provisions: 7.0 Pre-mathematical activities for 5 & 6 years 9.0 Environmental Science for 5 & 6 years Time line of lesson: Full day Materials needed for session: laminated blank calendars dry-erase markers paper

scissors paint

Objectives:

• To help teachers gather and make materials for their classrooms • To help teachers integrate math and science activities with art • To help teachers learn how to use manipulatives

Focus Activity: Ask participants if they would teach us a common poem or song. Discuss how art surrounds us and is in our language and songs. Talking Points True art in early childhood is open-ended and child-centered (child chooses what to make and with what supplies with little or no direction from the teacher). It is important that children have these types of art experiences in addition to craft projects. For young children the arts provide many opportunities to explore and develop cognitive skills. Art can be thought about in these ways (Brewer, 2007):

• Provide opportunities for growth in all domains- while participating in the arts, fine motor and gross motor skill while they make decisions and problem solve.

• Provide intellectual challenge- A child can continue to learn new techniques and explore new materials in art.

The goal is for children to learn through the arts and to enjoy their Guided Practice:

• Work area 1-Paper weaving and pattern printing with fruits, vegetables, fingers, sticks, etc.

• Work area 2 - Make a flip book with stickers or participants can make ABC books for their classes.

• Work area 3 -Making pop-up book- http://www.makersgallery.com/joanirvine/howto.html

• Work areas 4- Use calendar template and explain how teachers can use all year as class calendar and use soda tabs to demonstrate more math activities.

Small groups participate in Work areas with short break during work area time. Let participants complete any activities or projects they would like to finish. At this time they can ask trainers for help or ask any questions.


Review: Participants can ask questions or trainers can make a review game. For example, in a container place various questions. Participants volunteer to come up, select a question and answer it. For more fun, have a participant choose a partner for help. Final Evaluation Time!!! If there is any time remaining participants can create and make more classroom materials with paper and materials provided. Handouts: Paper weaving & Pattern Printing Stages of Art Information


How to Make a Pop-up by Joan Irvine This is an excerpt from her book How to Make Pop-ups, written by me and illustrated by Barbara Reid. Follow the instructions and drawings below to make a talking mouth pop-up card.

1 Take two pieces of paper, each 21.5 cm x 28 cm (8.5 in. x 11 in.). Fold each paper in half. Put one aside.

2 On the other, put a dot in approximately the centre of the folded edge.

3 Draw a 5 cm (2 in.) line from the dot towards the outer edge.

4 Starting at the folded edge, cut on the line.

5 Fold back the flaps to form two triangles.

6 Open the flaps again. Open the whole page.

7 Now comes the tricky part! Hold your paper, so that it looks like a tent. Put your finger on the top triangle and push down. Pinch the two folded edges of the top triangle, so that the triangle is pushed through to the other side of the paper.

8 Put your finger on the bottom triangle and do the same thing. The top and bottom triangles will now be pushed out to form a mouth inside the card. When you open and close your card, the mouth will look like it is talking. When your card is closed it will look like this:


9 Draw a monster, a person or an animal around your mouth.

10 Glue the inside and outside cards together. Do not apply glue in the area of the pop-up mouth. You now have a cover for your card.

Other ideas: Your card can also be a centrepiece for a

table, if you use heavy paper. Draw a jagged line, instead of a straight line, for the talking

mouth. Your figure will now have teeth. Draw a head and body around the mouth. Make sure

the body is wider than the head, so that your figure can stand. Cut around the figure's head

and body to make a centrepiece.

Illustrations by Barbara Reid from How to Make Pop-Ups used by permission of Kids Can Press Ltd, Toronto, Canada. Illustration copyright © 1987 by Barbara Reid.


Math, Science & Art Activities: “Paper Weaving” & “Pattern Printing”

Participants will construct a woven mat to practice working with alternating sequence of numbers patterns and measurement.

1. Students fold one sheet of paper horizontally. Draw a line about one inch from the open end of the folded paper. This is the limit of cutting.

2. From the fold, make irregular cuts up to the line. Cuts need not be straight. (The irregular cuts make a more interesting finished product.) Unfold and lay it flat. This will serve as the "warp" and the "loom."

3. Measure and cut from the second sheet of paper, one-inch wide by nine-inch strips. These will serve as the "weft." Tip: Teacher may precut the one-inch weft strips.

4. Begin by weaving one "weft thread" over one "warp thread" then under the next warp and over the next, etc.

5. Continue this process alternating over and under with each weft thread. Lesson plan from Dick Blick © Copyright 1999–2007 Dick Blick Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.

Science & Art Activity: “Pattern Printing with Vegetables and Fruits” To explore, classify and identify similarities among fruits and vegetables, participants will use fruits and vegetable pieces to print or stamp patterns onto paper.

1. Dip or paint onto fruits and vegetable sections and stamp onto paper in random or ordered patterns.

2. Kinder artists may instead wish to apply paint or ink directly to the vegetables with a paintbrush.

3. Fruit or vegetable may be cut in half by adults before the activity begins.

1. carrots 2. potatoes 3. corn cobs 4. beans 5. apples 6. tomatoes 7. peppers


Early Symbol Making Begins at the end of the scribbling stages

Why art? To express and communicate, to create order. Use ideas for artwork from the child's experiences, memories, imagination, and observations.

Motivation Ask questions. Ask if they'd like to draw "I" and "My" topics "I help rake leaves" "I feed my pet . . ." "My truck goes fast" "Making my cat out of clay? Use lots of questions to make passive knowledge active (review experiences). "Can you remember what it feels like?" "How many fingers would you like on the hand?" "I wonder who could be in this place?" "Who do you play with when you . . . ?"

Materials For growth, materials should have good line contrast. Use darks and brights on white. Examples are: Markers, crayons thick paints, firm bristle brushes, clay, wet chalk on dark paper, wet sand. blocks of natural wood. Sort sets by color, texture, shape. puzzles.

For Growth Ask detailed questions during observation and during experiences. "Which are the biggest branches?" "Where are the smallest branches on this tree?" Give informational praise and encouragement. "The colors you used here really help this part show up?" "I noticed your flowers have LOTS of colors."

When having new experiences, help the child notice more. Use questions. "How does it feel? How big are are the ears? How does it smell? How many legs are there? Can you walk that way?" Think of ways to build awareness. Children draw what they remember. They remember what they notice.

Lowenfeld, V. (1964) Creative and Mental Growth (4th ed.).


Schematic (Symbolic) Artwork may appear rigid and stereotyped.

Drawings often include a base line across the bottom. Figures are often made of simple geometric shapes or stick figures at this stage.

Cognitive development at this stage indicates a readiness to read.

Why art? To express and communicate, to create order. Use ideas for artwork from the child's experiences, memories, imagination, and observations.

Motivation

Ask more the child questions that initiate artwork. “How do you help your mother at home?” “What does your family do together?” Use lots of questions to encourage critical thinking during the art process.

“Magic Finger” Help

Child practices “magic finger” (Air drawing) to build confidence. If a child asks you how to draw an object, face the child and ask them to try to draw the object in the air using only geometric shapes. Draw with them. The familiar shape will come to mind and prompt the child to attempt the new object with familiar, geometric shapes. (Discovery and exploration).

To Teach drawing: During this stage a child typically draws a picture of a person the same way time after time, but details are changed to reflect a particular situation. In this case the arms are modified to create the gesture of being thoughtful. When drawing from personal experience during the schematic stage it is common for children to construct drawings of persons, animals, and things from simple geometric shapes. If this body or one of these legs were removed from its context it would scarcely be recognizable.


The Numbers from 1 to 100


Early Care and Child Development Teacher Training Institute

Week Four

Cynthia Aguirre, B.A. Ana DeHoyos-O’Connor, M.Ed.


Lisa Uribe-Kozlovsky, Ph.D.


Week Four Introduction The final week of the Teacher Training Institute took place in October 2007. Ana Dehoyos-O’Connor and Lisa Uribe-Kozlovsky returned to the Western Province of Zambia with fellow educator Cynthia Aguirre. They prepared a week long workshop for the preschool teachers of the area. Then with revisions made based on the feedback from the Zambian teachers, their contribution to this manual is the final weeklong workshop. At the end of the week, 10 participants were asked to volunteer as teacher-to-teacher mentors. The mentors are paired with another preschool teacher in the area to share the methods and strategies learned in the WGC – Teacher Training Institute. After their weekly meetings, they are asked to communicate with the trainers of the institute on the Women’s Global Connection website in a cross-cultural dialogue. (www.womensglobalconnection.com ). The sessions of the fourth week of the institute are as follows: Session One I am the sum of ALL parts of ME! Session Two The Creative Process: Child and Teacher as One Session Three Music and Movement with Young Children Session Four Discover it! Science in the Preschool Classroom


Week Four – Session One

Title of Session: I am the sum of ALL parts of ME! (and the essence of MY being is My thoughts, My words, and My deeds.) Content Areas Physical Growth & Motor Development National Curriculum: Throughout curriculum Time line of session: 5 hours Materials needed for Session Tweezers Wooden sticks Plastic tongs Beads Clothes pins Shapes Pipe cleaners Letters/Numbers Focus Activity: To develop in a child “body awareness” in relation to all the parts that make a whole through gross and fine motor development Objective: Participants will learn how to assess fine and gross motor skills by using a checklist method. Participants will learn the reasons for the importance of physical growth and motor development. Talking Points: A motor skill is an action that involves the movement of muscles in your body. Gross motor skills are larger movements involving the arm, leg, or feet muscles or the entire body -- things like crawling, running, and jumping are gross motor skills. Fine motor skills are those smaller actions like picking things up between the thumb and finger or using the toes to wriggle into sand or the lips and tongue to taste and feel objects. Gross motor and fine motor skills develop in tandem because many activities depend on the co-ordination of both sorts of skills. At 3 months you may notice a child bringing his hands together over his chest as he lies on his back (a gross motor skill) and then playing with his hands (a fine motor skill). Even filling a shape sorter box, at about 18 months, for example, you will begin to see that a child will be able to use gross motor skills to hold his body steady enough to grasp the shapes firmly and fine motor skills to twist or turn each shape so that it fits into its appropriate hole. Assessment All children pass through the same sequence of stages in their physical growth. Each child has their own timetable for development. In any one classroom there will be many levels of physical & motor development.


Assessment Environments

• Initial assessment of the child best done in an informal, natural environment or in a self-guided learning center doing practical applications. • Avoid formal evaluation in which each child attempts an assigned activity as the

teacher observes - avoid a win or lose situation.. • Community environment getting children to work among advance together when

possible. • Practice/Repetition makes everyone better so good for all.

Assessment Checklist (handout) How to use in developing the classroom environment and individual student plans

Theories Maturationist Theory

• Suggests an unfolding of characteristics and capabilities within the human being that leads progressively to more & more mature forms

• It is proposed in this theory that all development unfolds according to a genetically preprogrammed plan for growth

• It is believed this plan dictates fixed patterns of growth and development that are only slightly influenced by environment

Developmentalist Theory

• Suggests that a scientific emphases on neurological development, human sensory mechanisms, and environmental influences provides a more complete understanding of human growth & motor development

Both Theories Agree

• Developmentalists do agree with the maturationist theory’s major principle that growth & development proceed from the head downward and from the central axis of the body outward

Gesell’s Child Study Focus Attention on biological influences in child growth & development and provided some general principles of development that continue to guide thoughtful developmental assessment of children today First attempt to illustrate the role of heredity in human growth and development which provided a framework for characterizing “ascending levels of maturity in terms of typical behavior patterns” A belief that still stands today, that the earliest periods of development are always the period of most rapid, most intense, and most fundamental growth Review handout “An Expected Age of Competence: A Progressions Pattern”


Norms These norms help to identify the average age of the emergence of certain behaviors or average scores on tests that are based on large representative samples of a population Yale University scholar Arnold Gesell and his associates, during the 1920s to the 1940s, identified observable sequences of growth and development, leading to maturation. These studies lead to what we call today “norms” in the areas for motor skills, adaptive behaviors, language, and personal-social behavior. For the first time gave parents, teachers, and doctors a set of developmental milestones by which “normal” growth development and individual “readiness” for new experiences were gauged.

Physical Growth Visible Changes: Growth is rapid in the early months and years and is visually evident Brains growing because our heads are growing and we are doubling and tripling in our height, length and weight. Suddenly we “normalize” and then variations among us is due to genetic makeup, health, nutrition, activity levels and metabolic rates. Less Visible Changes: Less observable changes but just as important to physical and motor development. Change in body proportions and center of balance which help to perform more advanced large and small motor coordination. Facial features and proportions change – baby teeth/permanent teeth; baby fat replaced by muscle tissue as locomotion takes over; bones begin to grow and strengthen resulting in the changing of the overall body appearance. Physical Fitness: Refers to muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and circulatory-respiratory endurance. Motor Fitness: Refers to speed, coordination, agility, power and balance Promoting child health is important to a child’s motor development and sensory system Important for parents at home and teachers in the classroom to observe children for signs of fatigue, restlessness, distractibility, symptoms of illness, and poor large and small motor coordination. It is important to distinguish between health issues and a simple need for further growth-enhancing experiences. Very important for children to be able to use their motor activities to the best of their abilities to gain information about the world around them while exhibiting high levels of self-esteem and self-confidence.

Importance of Motor Development & Movement • Movement Skills Progress: • Reflexive Activity in later prenatal states & early infancy • Rudimentary Movements (reaching, grasping, crawling) during the first two years • Fundamental Movements (walking, running, kicking, jumping, climbing)that

emerge during the years from age two to seven years • Specific skill-related movements associated with and leading to specific abilities

(sports, dance, gymnastics)


Examples:

• Small motor development: Inserting - helps establish “handedness” (right /left) in children

• Eye-Hand Coordination - helps to strengthen fingers & promote finger dexterity & learn to manipulate the objects they are viewing/holding

• Prehension - coordination of fingers and thumb to permit the grasping of small objects

• Large motor development-Balancing - helps develop movements filled with stability while learning to achieve stability while being stationary as well as during movement

Guided Practice (training of teachers): Each teacher will be given an assessment checklist for large motor skills and fine motor skills. They will be asked to make adjustments to the list appropriate for their individual classrooms and to explain the activities in their classroom that will be used to help them assess the skills of the children. “Catch the ball” will lead into discussion of the two main theories and vocabulary of the importance of motor development and physical growth. Trainer will use the “before you can ___ you must be able to ___” and the teachers will be asked to list the needed progression pattern to catch the ball. Teachers will be given handout to compare to their lists titled “An Expected Age of Competence: A Progressions Pattern. Discussion of vocabulary “norms”, “labels”, “deficiencies”, “diversity” and “cautions”. Independent Practice: Sharing in small groups ideas for classroom activities to develop gross and fine motor skills and how assessment checklist would be used to plan progression of those activities. Learning center activities Pick up sticks: use 10-12 thin twigs of similar size. Hold in one hand and drop them to the surface (table or floor). Take turns taking a stick without moving any of the other sticks. If you can take it without moving another you keep it for a point. If you move a stick , you skip your turn.

• Tweezer pick up: Use tweezers to transfer small items, such as leaves, cotton balls, wooden beads etc, from one container to another.

• Beading: use a piece of yarn and string beads

• Stencil: choose an object to trace around on a sheet of paper.


Clay manipulation: Molding and rolling clay into balls - using the palms of the hands facing each other and with fingers curled slightly towards the palm. Rolling play dough into tiny balls (peas) using only the finger tips. Using pegs or toothpicks to make designs in clay. Newpaper play: Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls. Use to stuff scarecrow or other art creation. Scrunch up 1 sheet of newspaper in one hand to make a ball. This is a super strength builder. Then play toss with it. Scissor Activities: When scissors are held correctly, and when they fit a child's hand well, cutting activities will exercise the very same muscles which are needed to manipulate a pencil in a mature tripod grasp. The correct scissor position is with the thumb and middle finger in the handles of the scissors, the index finger on the outside of the handle to stabilize, with fingers four and five curled into the palm.

• Cutting scrap paper. • Making fringe on the edge of a large piece of paper. • Cutting straws (these can be used for beading) or shredded paper.

Home to School Connection: Parents can help with fine motor practice at home by allowing the children to pour liquids into containers, to twist tops on and off of containers and play with pick up sticks. Parents can help develop gross motor at home by encouraging skipping, hopping and participating in throwing/catching games. Closure: Review and wrap-up session teach this fingerplay as a closing activity.

OPEN, SHUT THEM Open, shut them, open, shut them; Give your hands a clap

Open, shut them, open, shut them; Lay them in your lap Creep them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them right up to your chin

Open up your little mouth, but do not let them in. This is one of those fingerplays that children enjoy on the last day of school and the first day. It is very much a fingerplay as it prepares those little fingers ready for later writing. To teach to children Say the words very slowly, say them quickly, whisper them, mouth them making no sounds, "think" the words, just motions. Handout: Expected Age Large Motor Checklist


AN EXPECTED AGE OF COMPETENCE: A PROGRESSIONS PATTERN (AN EXAMPLE OF THE MATURATIONIST THEORY)

A predictable pattern beginning at birth and proceeding toward an expected age of competence, around age 5 or 6:

• Innate reflexive activity • Motor development in the head and neck region • Motor development in upper arms and chest region • Motor development & coordination in the trunk region • Motor development in the legs and feet • Motor development & coordination in the lower arms, hands, and fingers • Eye-hand coordination • Development of grasping and pincer abilities • Reaching and retrieving movements • Eye-foot coordination • Eye- and moving-object coordination • Stopping a rolled ball • Catching a thrown ball

This is a typical pattern that holds true for most children. CAUTION observations when using expected age of competence progression patterns: When “age of appearance” is attached to each new developmental stage

• can lead to inaccurate assessments of growth & development • can lead to identifying only “deficiencies” • can lead to the assumption of developmental problems if a child’s

development does not follow a particular age or sequence • can lead to inaccurate and damaging “labels” for a child’s learning

experience Ways to use this method and AVOID the listed mistakes: Teachers must consider multiple influences on human growth & development and the wide variations among children.

Teachers must realize that diversity does not suggest deficiency.

Teachers must realize variations among children could be attributed to socioeconomic factors, ethnic & culture uniqueness, accessibility to health care & prenatal supervision, enrichment & learning opportunities, parenting styles & expectations, learning styles, developmental challenges, or debilitating conditions.


LARGE MOTOR CHECKLIST Child’s Name:_____________________________________Date:___________ _____ Walks up and down stairs easily _____ Walks across a balance beam _____ Balances on one foot _____ Hops, jumps with both feet over a low object, and leaps _____ Runs, gallops, and skips without falling _____ Climbs up and down a piece of climbing equipment _____ Crawls, creeps, or scoots across the floor _____ Picks up and carries a large object _____ Throws a beanbag/ball _____ Catches a beanbag/ball _____ Rides wheeled equipment SMALL MOTOR CHECKLIST Child’s Name:____________________________________Date:____________ _____ Inserts pegs _____ Sand drawing/writing _____ Twists tops onto containers/bottles _____ Pours a liquid without spilling (can use sand) _____ Cuts with scissors _____ Picks up items with tweezers _____ Works with clothespins _____ Pick up sticks game _____ Sorting items into containers with tweezers _____ Tracing objects with crayon, pencils, felt tip pens _____ Writes with an implement _____ Paints with a brush


Week Four – Session Two

Title of Session: The Creative Process: Child and Teacher as One Content Area: Creative work for ages 3 and 4 National Curriculum: Use such media to present their personal reactions to their environment, e.g. use: 12.1.1 sand with and without water,12.1.2 soil with and without water,12.1.3 paper,12.1.4 soft stones, 12.1.6 water, dry or mixed with water or glue Length of lesson: 6 hours Materials needed for Session: Markers Flip Chart

Glue Items for art stations

Objective: Participants will be able to identify their role in integrating art into their class curriculum. Participants will be able work at each art station and provide examples of how they could reproduce these in their classrooms. The art stations are designed to support open ended art activities. At each station participants will evaluate the activity and modify it to meet their individual needs. Focus activity: Prior to the focus activity: The trainer will begin the session with a quote from Greek philosopher, Aristotle: “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance; for this ... is true reality.” Our goal is to discuss how we can provide children with an environment that stimulates originality rather than conformity. The trainer will facilitate a group brainstorming on: “What contributions does art make to every child’s overall development?” List all items on flip chart. Talking points Importance of the Creative Process

• All children need to be truly creative is the freedom to commit themselves completely to the effort and make whatever activity they are doing their own.

• The process of self-expression is what is important. Creative experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings.

• A child's creative activity can help teachers to learn more about what the child may be thinking or feeling.

• Creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving.

• Creative activities help acknowledge and celebrate children's uniqueness and diversity as well as offer excellent opportunities to personalize our teaching and focus on each child.


Opportunities for Creativity Children need plenty of opportunities for creative play and creative thinking. Start

by providing activities that are based on the children's interests and ideas. This means learning how to listen intently to what children are saying. It is very helpful to transcribe children's conversations as well as take notes and review them with your co-teachers. Be sure to offer children a wide range of creative materials and experiences. Being creative is more than drawing or painting. There's also music, field trips, working with wire, clay, paper, wood, water or shadows. The possibilities are endless. It's important to provide children lots of time to explore materials and pursue their ideas. This includes time to think about how to plan, design, construct, experiment and revise their project ideas. Do not forget to build in time to talk these ideas over with other people - both teachers and children.

How Can Adults Encourage Creativity?

• Provide an environment that allows the child to explore and play without undue restraints.

• Adapt to children's ideas rather than trying to structure the child's ideas to fit the adult's.

• Accept unusual ideas from children by suspending judgment of children's divergent problem-solving.

• Use creative problem-solving in all parts of the curriculum. Use the problems that naturally occur in everyday life.

• Allow time for the child to explore all possibilities, moving from popular to more original ideas.

• Emphasize process rather than product. Guided Practice: The trainer will provide background information on art and the creative process. Guided practice 1. Participants will work in small groups to generate a list of the characteristics of a creative person. 2. As participants work in the art stations they will brainstorm how these activities can be done in their classes and also provide modifications to meet their needs. The trainer should be checking for understanding while guiding practice. Independent Practice: Activities will be set up for participants to work on. These activities are open-ended art. The art stations provided for this session are: play dough, scraps and glue, sand art, mural design, outdoor art, painting with sensory items, marble/rock painting, picture making with scraps, and pass it on picture, printmaking and weaving. Closure: Create an “art gallery” of the results from the learning center activities. Ask participants to walk around and appreciate each other’s contribution.


Week Four – Session Three

Title of Session: Music and Movement for Young Children Content Area: Language objectives for ages 5 and 6 years National Curriculum: 3.6.1 Sing songs of the following nature: 3.6.1.1 traditional songs 3.6.1.2 game songs 3.6.1.3 action songs 3.6.1.4 songs which would remind them of certain skills e.g. number value, parts of the body, spiritual. Length of session: 6 Hours Materials needed for session: Three flipchart sheets of paper for each participant Samples of preschool songs Objective: Participants will be able to identify educational value of music and movement in the curriculum. Participants will be able to create music rebus to use in their classroom. Focus activity: Music Relay to develop a list of songs we currently sing with our children. Make sure to include songs the children sing that are part of their culture. Participants will work in small groups as they brainstorm songs they can teach the group. Talking points In discussion point out the link between motor development and cognitive development , as we share information related to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development (see handout) Preschool songs are an invaluable resource when it comes to young children. Through preschool songs, young kids can learn many different basic and personal skills. The following article discusses the lessons that young children can learn from songs as well as naming a few ideal tunes for each category. Numbers And Counting There are a great many preschool songs dedicated to counting and numbers. By putting the skill of counting to a snappy tune, young children are much more able to memorize and repeat back the numbers. Some popular songs for preschoolers that involve numbers and counting are Hickory Dickory Doc, Ten Little Monkeys (Beware: you will have to sing this one again and again because kids never seem to tired of it), 100 Bottles Of Pop (the non-alcoholic version of 100 bottles of beer on the wall. Consider counting by tens for young children with limited attention spans),


and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. However my favorite counting song is The Ants Go Marching, which is a rather long song and best for walks with young children. Letters And Spelling Probably the most popular letter song is the Alphabet Song although it is by far not the only song that can help teach young children letters and spelling. Just like with the counting songs, letter songs make a basic skill that is often difficult for children to learn and makes it simpler. Well-known letter and spelling songs include Bingo, The Alphabet letter/sound/word Song (sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle) and Apples and Bananas (a vowel sound song). There are also many different versions of alphabet rhymes and songs that teach preschool-age children the order of the alphabet. Body Parts Studies have shown that teaching young children to identify their body parts strengthens their sense of self and raises self-confidence and independence. Not only that but most body part songs are activity songs, which encourage movement. And best of all, they are really fun to sing! Most preschool children know Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes along with The Hokey Pokey. Other popular choices for teaching young children the parts of their body include Ten Little Fingers, Thumbkin, and If You're Happy And You Know It (which is my personal favorite). Although it is important that young children learn the lessons we've already discussed, preschool songs also teach kids the very important lesson that learning can be fun and that it is okay to be silly once in a while. Using preschool songs to teach young children basic skills not only makes it easier, it also makes it enjoyable. This can be a vital first step in creating a joy of learning in your young child.

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Whole group process: The trainer will provide information regarding music theory, process and the role of the teacher as they provide opportunities for music and movement in the classroom. Each team will share a song they know. The group will sing songs they would like to learn as a group. Each participant will create five music rebus charts for their classroom. Using the words from their handouts or songs they know already. Guided practice: The trainer will use the list of songs provided by the group and provide examples of how songs teach concepts. After the example each group will review the songs they have brainstormed and list possible concepts that are learned. Independent Practice: The trainer will close with a group brainstorming on the concept of home and school connection. What are some ideas in connecting music in our community and home? Closure: Summarize why we want to teach with songs, ask participants to choose a favorite and sing it on their way out.


Songs for Learning Are you Listening? Tune: Are you sleeping?

Are you listening? Are you listening? Boys and girls, girls and boys? Come and join our circle. Come and join our circle. Sit right down. Sit right down.

Little Bo Beep

Little Bo Peep Has lost her sheep And doesn’t know where to find them. Leave them alone, And they will come home, Wagging their tails behind them.

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, Eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider that sat down beside her And frightened Miss Muffet way.

Mister Sun

Oh, Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun Won’t you please shine down on me? Oh, Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun Hiding behind that tree. These little children are asking you To please come out so we can play with you. Oh, Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun Won’t you please shine down on me?

Hey, Diddle, Diddle

Hey, diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle. The cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.


Five Little Ducks

Five little ducks went out one day, Over the hills and far way. Papa duck called with a “Quack, quack, quack.” And four little ducks came swimming back. (Repeat, losing one more duck each time until you are left with one duck. Have Mama duck call and end with “Five little ducks came swimming back.”)

Six White Ducks

Six white ducks that I once knew, Fat ducks, skinny ducks, they were, too. But the one little duck with the feather on her back, She ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack! Down to the river they would go Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble all in a row. But the one little duck with the feather on her back, she ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Five Little Speckled Frogs

Five little speckled frogs Sitting on a speckled log eating a most delicious bug. Yum! Yum! One jumped into the pool, Where it was nice and cool. Now there are four little speckled frogs. Burr-ump!

Over in the Meadow

Over in the meadow, in the sand, in the sun, Lived an old mother frog and her little froggie one. “Croak!" said the mother. “I croak!” said the one, So they croaked and they croaked I the sand, in the sun. Over in the meadow, in the stream so blue, Lived an older mother fish and her little fishies two. “Swim!" said the mother. "We swim!" said the two so they swam and they swam in the stream so blue. Over in the meadow, on a branch of the tree, Lived an old mother bird and her little birdies three. “Sing!” said the mother. “We sign!” said the three, And they sang and they sang on a branch of the tree.

Five Little Speckled Frogs

Five little speckled frogs Sitting on a speckled log Eating a most delicious bug. Yum! Yum! One jumped into the pool, Where it was nice an cold. Now there are four little speckled frogs. Burr-ump! (Repeat, counting down until there are no little speckled frogs.)


Counting Rhyme

One, two, three, four, five, I caught a fish alive. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, I let it go again. Why did I let him go? Because he bit my finger so! Which finger did it bite? The little one on the right.

There was a Little Turtle

There was a little turtle Who lived in a box. He swam in a puddle. He climbed on the rocks. He snapped at a mosquito. He snapped at a flea. He snapped at a minnow. And he snapped at me. He caught the mosquito. He caught the flea. He caught the minnow. But he didn’t catch me.

Do you know these songs? •“The Alphabet Song” •“The Ants Go Marching” •“Are you Sleeping?” •“Baby Bumblebee” •“Bingo” •“Farmer in the Dell”

•“Five Little Ducks” •“Five Little Speckled Frogs” •“Make New Friends” •“Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” •“Rain, Rain” •“Ten Little Monkeys”


Week Four – Session Four Title of Session: Discover it! Science in the preschool classroom Content Areas Science, Math, and Language National Curriculum 3.3 Language Description 6.1-2-3-5 Pre-Mathematical 8.0-4 Environmental Science Time line of session: 6 hours Materials needed for Session: Magnets Balloons Straws String

Items to use as measuring units Flip chart Markers

Focus activity Present a glass of ice. As participants enter, have them estimate how long they think it will take for the ice to melt. This will allow for discussion based on several concepts, for example, estimation, evaporation, time. Objective The purpose of this session is to demonstrate how science objectives can be taught daily in the early childhood classroom. Participants will learn the concept of open-ended activities and language to use in their lessons. Talking Points Connect to the science section by discussion the Piaget stages of development to make the link between learning with song and hands-on activities.

Stages of Cognitive Development Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is renowned for constructing a highly influential model of child development and learning. Piaget's theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures--in other words, mental "maps," schemes, or networked concepts for understanding and responding to physical experiences within his or her environment. Piaget further attested that a child's cognitive structure increases in sophistication with development, moving from a few innate reflexes such as crying and sucking to highly complex mental activities. Piaget's theory identifies four developmental stages and the processes by which children progress through them. The four stages are:


1. Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 years old)--The child, through physical interaction with his or her environment, builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works. This is the stage where a child does not know that physical objects remain in existence even when out of sight (object permanance).

2. Preoperational stage (ages 2-7)--The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete physical situations.

3. Concrete operations (ages 7-11)--As physical experience accumulates, the child starts to conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences. Abstract problem solving is also possible at this stage. For example, arithmetic equations can be solved with numbers, not just with objects.

4. Formal operations (beginning at ages 11-15)--By this point, the child's cognitive structures are like those of an adult and include conceptual reasoning.

How Piaget's Theory Impacts Learning Curriculum--Educators must plan a developmentally appropriate curriculum that enhances their students' logical and conceptual growth. Instruction--Teachers must emphasize the critical role that experiences--or interactions with the surrounding environment--play in student learning. For example, instructors have to take into account the role that fundamental concepts, such as the permanence of objects, play in establishing cognitive structures. The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates When it comes to science skills children are quick to learn because of their motivation to understand why. Hands on activities facilitate this as children learn the following: Children have a need to learn about the world around them

• Primarily children love it! • Disruptive behavior diminishes • Cooperation and productive conversation increases • Everyday experiences are the foundation for science • Taking what is familiar and providing meaningful context • Opportunities to introduce new vocabulary and science concepts

Open-ended science activities involve children at a wide range of developmental levels • Variety depending on prior knowledge and skills • Children find their own level which allows them to remain challenged not

bored • Hands-on science activities let teachers observe and respond to children • Allows teachers time to observe • Allows for assistance when necessary


Scientific approach of “trial and error” welcomes error.

Achievement increases when children are free to focus on learning rather than avoiding mistakes

Science strongly supports language and literacy. • Non fiction books become powerful foundation for conversation with adults

and peers • Vocabulary growth is supported by children’s prior knowledge coupled with

observation • Receptive language is fostered as children listen • Expressive language is fostered as the teacher leads children through a cycle

of scientific reasoning

Science helps ESL learners to participate. Children’s understanding of teacher demonstrations allows them to couple content with the English language

Problem solving skills easily generalize to social situations • Teachers help children adapt the cycle of problem solving to interpersonal

problems. • Science demonstrations help children become comfortable in large group

conversations. • Children can all share the same experience and knowledge base. • This experience creates community of learners to support conversation • Shares new ideas based on new theories generated.

Science at the Center of the Integrated Curriculum (NAEYC.org) Handout for the participants Science easily connects to other areas Integrated curriculum and related activities are explored in several locations in the classroom.

–Math –Artistic expression –Social studies

–Reading & language development


Science is also a way to develop language Four Step Cycle create on flip chart 1. Ask and Reflect

I wonder if…? Provide a question Read aloud one or more books to learn more about the topic

2. Plan and Predict Children consider what related information they already know Time to plan Planning takes place silently Children make predictions about what the outcome will be Children learn to use displaced language

3. Act and Observe

Put plan into action After plan is carried out children observe results Many opportunities to use expressive language Children learn to make and evaluate explanations

4. Report and Reflect

Sharing observations with others Different types of reports Share and display findings by telling someone, dictating findings, drawings or charts and graphs, even create a skit or song Reporting involves authentic language

Guided practice: Each group will receive a “science kit” with instructions. They will discover the activity and then teach that activity to the whole group. The motion of air Magnets Water evaporation Sense of hearing: where are they?

Sense of touch Scientific measurement Insects

Trainer check for understanding while guiding practice The trainer uses a variety of questioning strategies to demonstrate types of questions to ask children and encourage the participants to do so. Independent Practice: Small groups are asked to create give an extension activity for their kit. Trainers guide participants to use the four step cycle discussed (see handout) to present their activity.

- 108 – © Women’s Global Connection 2007

Closure: Review and wrap-up the lesson with possible “I want to know…” questions from children’s perspective. Hand outs: Science at the Center Science Easily Connects Using Language Science kit cards


Science at the Center of the Integrated Curriculum NAEYC.org

Children have a need to learn about the world around them.

• Primarily children love it! • Disruptive behavior diminishes • Cooperation and productive conversation increases • Everyday experiences are the foundation for science • Taking what is familiar and providing meaningful context • Opportunities to introduce new vocabulary and science concepts

Open-ended science activities involve children at a wide range of developmental levels. • Variety depending on prior knowledge and skills • Children find their own level which allows them to remain challenged not

bored • Hands-on science activities let teachers observe and respond to children • Allows teachers time to observe • Allows for assistance when necessary

Scientific approach of “trial and error” welcomes error. Achievement increases when children are free to focus on learning rather than avoiding mistakes

Science strongly supports language and literacy. • Non fiction books become powerful foundation for conversation with adults

and peers • Vocabulary growth is supported by children’s prior knowledge coupled with

observation • Receptive language is fostered as children listen • Expressive language is fostered as the teacher leads children through a cycle

of scientific reasoning

Science helps ESL learners to participate. Children’s understanding of teacher demonstrations allows them to couple content with the English language

Problem solving skills easily generalize to social situations.

• Teachers help children adapt the cycle of problem solving to interpersonal problems

• Science demonstrations help children become comfortable in large group conversations

• Children can all share the same experience and knowledge base • This experience creates community of learners to support conversation • Shares new ideas based on new theories generated.


Science easily connects to other areas Integrated curriculum and related activities are explored in several locations in the classroom.

–Math –Artistic expression

–Social studies –Reading & language development

Using Language During Science Activities

Four Step Cycle 1. Ask and Reflect

I wonder if…? Provide a question Read aloud one or more books to learn more about the topic

2. Plan and Predict Children consider what related information they already know Time to plan Planning takes place silently Children make predictions about what the outcome will be Children learn to use displaced language

3. Act and Observe

Put plan into action After plan is carried out children observe results Many opportunities to use expressive language Children learn to make and evaluate explanations

4. Report and Reflect

Sharing observations with others Different types of reports Share and display findings by telling someone, dictating findings, drawings or charts and graphs, even create a skit or song Reporting involves authentic language


References

Barclay, Kathy; Benelli, Cecelia; & Curtis, Ann. (1995). Literacy begins at birth: What caregivers can learn from parents of children who read early. Young Children, 50 (4), 24-28 Berk, L.E., & A. Winsler. (1995) Scaffolding children’s learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education. Washington, DC: NAEYC Brewer, JoAnn (2007). Introduction to Early Childhood Education Preschool through Primary Grades. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Caufield, Rick (1997). Professionalism in Early Care and Education. Early Childhood Education Journal. 24, 261-263. Copple, C., & S. Bredekamp. (2006) Basics of developmentally appropriate practice: An introduction for teachers of children 3 to 6. Washington, DC: NAEYC. McMahon, R. (1996). Introducing infants to the joy of reading. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 24(3), 26-29. Morrow, L. (1997). Literacy development in the early years: Helping children read and write. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1997). Helping children learn about reading. [Online]. Available: http://npin.org/library/texts/home/learnabo.html [1997, September 25]. Stuber, G.M. (2007) Of Primary Interest. Centering your classroom: Setting the stage for engaged learners. Young Children 62 (4): 58-59. Online: www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200707.


Acknowledgements Women’s Global Connection – Children Under Seven Project in Zambia acknowledges the following contributors:

Ana DeHoyos-O’Connor San Antonio College – Family & Child Studies Department Beauty Masheke WGC Grief & Loss Project – Zambia Western Province Trainer Mary Sitwala Nasilele WGC Grief & Loss Project – Zambia Western Province Trainer Brandi Cross University of the Incarnate Word Graduate Student Teri-Evens Palmer Texas State University – Art Department Faculty Cathy McDonnell Port Aransas Independent School District Mei-Yi Shen University of Incarnate Word Graduate Student Cynthia Aguirre WGC Board Member and volunteer

Organizational Collaborators of the Teacher Training Institute 2007

University of the Incarnate Word: Dreeben School of Education San Antonio College Zambia Ministry of Education CHRISTUS Foundation Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word UNICEF

Classroom teachers from the Western Province in Zambia Akakambama, Monde; Chibamba, Melinda; Hamoonga,Annette; Imbwae, Grace; Kabubi, Florence Inonge; Kabubi, Kity ; Kanchule, Ireen ;Konga,Bertha ;Like,Bright M. ; Litaba,Kashibi ;Liwale,Patrina I. ;Lubaba,Gladys ; Lutanga, Angella; Machushi, Exildah ; Malama, Lillian ; Milupi,Matilda ; Msiska Emily ; Mubita, Autricia Koyawa ;Mubukwanu, Annette ;Mufaya,Lydia ;Mukampaila, Kenny W. ; Muyunda, Nawa ; Fundulu, Muzala; Mwala, Agatha ; Mwitumwa, Mwala ; Nasilele, Martha M. ; Ngende, Gladys ; Njimba, Ireen Nyanga; Sibuku, Nangombe ; Sifaya, Mutumba ; Simenda, Precious M. ; Sitali, Emmanuel ; Sikananu, Annie

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